Low calorie meat products

ABSTRACT

A low calorie meat product comprising a mixture comprising comminuted lean meat and a vegetable fat replacement ingredient comprising dietary fiber and starch.

This is a continuation of application Ser. No. 07/623,747, filed asPCT/DK90/00312, now abandoned, which is a continuation-in-part ofapplication Ser. No. 07/597,719, filed Oct. 16, 1990, now abandoned,which is a continuation-in-part of application Ser. No. 07/566,223,filed Aug. 13, 1990, now abandoned, which is a continuation-in-part ofapplication Ser. No. 07/517,663, filed May 1, 1990, now abandoned.

FIELD OF INVENTION

The present invention relates to a low calorie meat product comprising avegetable fat replacement ingredient. In a particular aspect of theinvention the low calorie meat product is a pet food or a ready-to-cookor ready-to-eat consumer meal or forms part thereof. Furthermore thereis provided a process for preparing a low calorie meat product.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

There is an increasing consumer demand for meat products having a lowcalorie content. This demand is supported by accumulating evidence inthe scientific literature that a high consumption of animal fat,especially fat with a high proportion of saturated fatty acidsrepresents a significant health hazard, e.g. in relation to developmentof cardio-vascular diseases. Other health concerns associated withhigh-fat meat products are their high content of cholesterol and theaddition of relatively high amounts of salt which are being added inorder to improve the binding characteristics since salt aids inextracting the native water binding component myosin from the meat.Furthermore, a large proportion of consumers find meat productscontaining chemical additives such as water binding agents includingphosphates, emulsifying additives, and anti-oxidants less acceptable.

However, the presence of fat in traditional meat products has aconsiderable desirable influence on the texture and palatability hereof.Thus meat products having a substantially reduced fat content tend tobecome dry, tough, and less succulent and the consumer will regard suchproducts as being less palatable than similar products having a higherfat content. In some countries it is considered that e.g. breakfastsausages having a fat content below 35% are less palatable due todryness and chewiness. In a recent publication by Wirth(Fleischwirtschaft, 1988,68, 1153-1156) it was concluded that a certainfat content is essential for the consistency of the products and thatthe preparation of meat products with a reduced fat content requiresspecial process technology. By applying such technology it is, accordingto Wirth, supra possible to prepare e.g. frankfurters having a fatcontent as low as 10% or liver sausages with a maximum fat content of15% without deteriorating the texture and palatability of the products.Wirth indicated that the preferred processes for compensating thetechnological function of the non-present fat would be: an enhancedactivation of the myosin in order to enhance the water binding capacityand the addition of collagen substances and water.

There have been numerous attempts to reduce the fat content in meatproducts. The above publication is an example of one approach which isto simply reduce or "dilute" a high proportion of fat by adding waterand water-binding enhancing agents to a high-fat product mixture. Otherexamples are found in GB 1 423 608 which discloses the addition of a drygelling agent comprising a cellulose ether and a digestible carbohydratewhich agent is added at concentrations up till 15% together with addedwater and in EP 0 319 987 which discloses a process for producingprocessed minced meat foods comprising adding an alkaline gel comprisingup to 11 parts by weight of gel-forming materials including konjakmannan, up to 0.04 parts by weight of an alkaline substance and 15 to 50parts by weight of water to minced meat. The use of an alkaline konjakmannan gel as a calorie-reducing agent in meat products has also beendisclosed in GB 2 224 629.

An other approach to providing low calorie meat products is to reducethe amount of fat by including in the meat products non-meat ingredientswhile still attempting to maintain in such products a taste, flavour,texture, and appearance comparable to those of traditional high-fat meatproducts. Thus, U.S. Pat. No. 3,748,148 discloses a method of producingsausages with a reduced content of cholesterol in which 20-30% Brazilnuts are admixed to lean meats as a substitute for animal fat. The aimsof this disclosure is to provide sausages with a reduced animal fat(including cholesterol) content. The relatively high proportion of theoil-containing nuts, however, does not provide a true low fat meatproduct. U.S. Pat. No. 4,504,515 discloses a process for preparing lowfat meat products comprising the admixture of a mixture containing13-40% weight percent frozen skimmed milk or whole milk and 55-80% byweight of lean meat in the presence of less than 5% by weight ofseasonings and/or preservatives.

In U.S. Pat. No. 4,735,819 reduced calorie sausages comprising 40-90% oflean meat and 2-35% of cooked rice and having a fat content in the rangeof 4-35% by weight are disclosed. Test samples of sausages were rated onthe basis of texture, flavour, and appearance by a test panel. However,the ratings were relatively poor for products having a high content ofrice and a low content of fat. Accordingly, the preferred content ofrice was 10% by weight and the preferred range of fat content was 10-25%by weight, the most preferred value being 20%. It is therefore obviousthat these inventors have not solved the problem of being able toproduce meat products with a fat content less than 20% by weight and atthe same time maintaining the taste, texture, and appearance of high-fatmeat products.

In a number of cases low cost meat products have been produced in whichthe fat is reduced moderately by the addition of various non-meatextenders. The main objectives of the use of such extenders are to aidthe absorption of fat and the absorption of added water in the resultingmeat product mixture in order to obtain meat products having highfinishing cooking yields; adding protein value to the products; orimproving the emulsion stability in products having a low meat content.As examples of such non-meat extenders may be mentioned bread crumbs,cereals, potato starch, milk powder, and vegetable protein.

The addition of dietary fiber- and starch-containing vegetableingredients, e.g. in the form of cooked vegetables to meat products isknown. It is thus not uncommon to add smaller amounts of boiled potatoesto certain traditional homemade products having a relatively high fatcontent, such as liver paste, sausages or forcemeat mixtures for meatballs. The purpose of this addition is primarily to obtain improvedabsorption of fat and added water and to reduce the cooking shrinkage.Furthermore, such addition of boiled potatoes contribute to obtaining alarger volume of the finished product whereby the required amount of thecostly meat ingredient may be reduced. In GB 1 310 348 is disclosed aprocess for the production of dehydrated meat products such as meatballs whereby a pre-cooked dried vegetable material having retained thecellular structure of the vegetable, preferably dehydrated potatoes, isadded to comminuted fat-containing meat in amounts ranging from 5 to 15weight percent. The main purpose of adding the vegetable material is toimprove the rehydration characteristics of the dried finished products.It is stated that it may be necessary to increase the inherent fatcontent of the products which originates from the fat-containing meatingredient and typically being 8-13% to e.g. 20-30% by adding fat inorder to reduce the time of rehydration. A similar use of carbohydratematerials such as boiled mashed potatoes in the preparation of instantlyreconstitutable dehydrated, cooked meat products was disclosed in GB 1022 170.

SU 1 266 503 describes a process for preparing cooked sausage wherein a"structurizing agent" comprising a 1:1 mixture of potato puree with milkand waste from groats manufacture is added to comminuted meat. The aimsof the invention is to reduce the meat content by 35-40%. In SU 1 296083 is disclosed a process for the preparation of sausage productswherein an emulsion comprising 8-10% by weight of a rehydrated driedvegetable material such as potatoes and other root crops and farm fat ina proportion of from 1:1 to 1:0.5 relative to the vegetable ingredientis added to comminuted meat to form a sausage mixture.

The present inventors have now found that low calorie meat products canbe prepared in an industrially economical way by using meat from whichessentially all attached fat has been mechanically removed and replacingthe thus removed fat with a dietary fiber- and starch-containingingredient and still obtain meat products which have essentially thesame taste, consistency/texture and appearance as similar types of meatproducts prepared from meat having a high fat content. By using thisnovel process it has now been made possible to provide nutritionallyhighly desirable meat products having a fat content which is less than15%, the fat content even being as low as 2-3% by weight and at the sametime maintaining the same content of meat protein.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides a low calorie meat product comprising amixture comprising comminuted lean meat substantially free from visiblefat, the proportion hereof being in the range of 20-95% by weight,calculated on the mixture, a vegetable fat replacement ingredientcomprising dietary fiber and starch in a weight ratio which is in therange of 1:32 to 1:1, the proportion of the dietary fiber being at least5% by weight of the dry matter of the fat replacement ingredient whendetermined as non-starch polysaccharides, and the proportion of thestarch being at least 50% of the fat replacement ingredient dry matter,which fat replacement ingredient in the mixture has or is capable ofbeing brought into a homogeneous consistency essentially without sensoryrecognizable particles, the proportion of the ingredient being in therange of 5-80% by weight, calculated on the mixture, optionally addedsalt, the proportion hereof when added being in the range of 0.1-4% byweight, calculated on the mixture, and optionally added water, theproportion of which when added is within the range of 5-50% by weight,calculated on the mixture and optionally one or more furtheringredients, the proportion of which when added is in the range of 1-15%by weight, the low calorie meat product having a fat content which is atthe most 15% by weight when the product is a hamburger product, thecontent of fat being at the most 10% by weight when the product is not ahamburger product, with the proviso that (i) the fat when the product isa product wherein the lean meat is fish meat does not comprise hardenedfat and (ii) the dietary fiber is not konjak mannan.

The products according to the invention have essentially the same taste,texture, appearance and water binding capacity as similar conventionallyprepared high-fat meat products.

The total proportion of fat in the low calorie product is preferablyless than 12% by weight, more preferably less than 10% by weight, stillmore preferably less than 7% by weight, most preferably less than 5% byweight, and in particular less than 3% by weight. The comminuted leanmeat may be derived from any edible animal species including mammals,birds, and fish.

In a further aspect, the low calorie meat products may constituteready-to-cook or ready-to-eat consumer meals or form part thereof. In astill further aspect, the low calorie meat product may be a pet food.

The present invention relates further to a process for preparing a lowcalorie meat product, which process essentially comprises preparing amixture by mixing comminuted lean meat substantially free from visiblefat; a vegetable fat replacement ingredient comprising dietary fiber andstarch in a weight ratio which is in the range of 1:32 to 1:1, theproportion of the dietary fiber on a fat replacement ingredient drymatter basis being at least 5% and the proportion of the starch being atleast 50% of the fat replacement ingredient dry matter and which fatreplacement ingredient in the coherent has or is capable of beingbrought into a homogeneous consistency essentially without sensoryrecognizable particles, said ingredient being miscible with the otheringredients; optionally added salt; and optionally added water, in whichmixture the proportion of comminuted lean meat substantially free fromvisible fat is in the range of 20-95% by weight, the proportion of thefat replacement ingredient is in the range of 5-80% by weight, theproportion of added water when added is in the range of 10-50% by weightand the proportion of added salt when added is in the range of 0.1-4% byweight. To the resulting mixture is optionally added one or more furtheringredients whereby a meat product mixture is obtained in which theproportion of further ingredients is in the range of 1-15% by weight,followed by distributing the thus obtained meat product mixture intosuitable packagings, and optionally subjecting the meat product mixtureto a preservation and/or cooking treatment prior to or subsequent to itsdistribution into the packagings to obtain the low calorie meat producthaving a fat content which is at the most 15% by weight, when theproduct is a hamburger product, the content of fat being at the most 10%by weight, when the product is not a hamburger product, with the provisothat (i) the fat when the product is a product wherein the lean meat isfish meat does not comprise hardened fat and (ii) the dietary fiber isnot konjak mannan.

In a still further aspect, the present invention relates to a processfor preparing a spreadable low calorie meat product, which processcomprises as a first step the formation of an emulsion comprising anedible oil, water having a temperature of at least 50° C. and a proteinpowder, and subsequently mixing the resulting emulsion with theingredients as defined above, the proportion of the emulsion from thefirst step comprising at the most 5% by weight of the resulting mixture.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

In one aspect the present invention provides a low calorie meat productcomprising:

a) a mixture comprising

(1) comminuted lean meat substantially free from visible fat, theproportion hereof being in the range of 20-95% by weight, calculated onthe mixture,

(2) a vegetable fat replacement ingredient comprising dietary fiber andstarch in a weight ratio which is in the range of 1:32 to 1:1, theproportion of the dietary fiber being at least 5% by weight of the fatreplacement ingredient dry matter when determined as non-starchpolysaccharides (NSP), and the proportion of the starch being at least50% of the fat replacement ingredient dry matter, which fat replacementingredient is capable of having or being brought into a homogeneousconsistency essentially without sensory recognizable particles in themixture, the proportion of said vegetable fat replacement ingredientbeing in the range 5-80% by weight, calculated on the mixture,

(b) optionally added salt, the proportion hereof when added being in therange of 0.1-4% by weight, calculated on the mixture, and

(c) optionally added water, the proportion of which when added is in therange of 5-50% by weight, calculated on the mixture, and

(d) optionally one or more further ingredients, the proportion of whichis in the range of 1-15% by weight of the meat product, the producthaving a fat content which is at the most 15% by weight, when theproduct is a hamburger product, the content of fat being at the most 10%by weight, when the product is not a hamburger product,

with the proviso that (i) the fat when the product is a product whereinthe lean meat is fish meat does not comprise hardened fat and (ii) thedietary fiber is not konjak mannan.

It is preferred that the low calorie meat product comprises essentiallyall of the native water of the above defined ingredients of the product.However, one or more of the ingredients may, prior to the mixing hereofhave been subjected to treatments which results in a partial removal ofthe original naturally occurring water content present in theingredients such as cooking or freeze-storage whereby 1-20% by weight ofthe native water content may be lost e.g. by evaporation or leaching. Inthe context of the present invention it is considered advantageous thatthe low calorie meat product comprises essentially all of the nativewater content of the ingredients, said content of ingredient nativewater in the product being at least 60% by weight, preferably at least70% by weight, more preferably at least 80% by weight and in particularat least 90% by weight.

In one embodiment of the present invention there is provided a lowcalorie hamburger product. In the present context the term "hamburgerproduct" designates a meat product comprising as the essentialingredient comminuted meat having a particle size which makes itpossible to form coherent hamburger patties, said particle sizetypically being in the range of 2-10 mm such as 3-5 mm. When a hamburgerproduct mixture is prepared the ingredients are blended essentiallywithout further comminution of the meat for a period of time sufficientto obtain a uniform distribution of ingredients in the resultingcoherent hamburger mixture.

Traditional, industrially prepared hamburgers may comprise chopped beefas the only ingredient, the fat content of the beef typically being inthe range of 20-30% by weight. However, such hamburgers are prone to aconsiderable shrinkage during cooking i.a. due to leakage of melted fatand furthermore, the remaining fat content will contribute to a highcalorie content of the products. In other types of traditionallyprepared hamburgers a mixture is prepared which in addition to thefat-containing chopped meat comprises meat extenders such as vegetableproteins, e.g. soy protein, added water, added salt and seasoningingredients. By incorporating such non-meat ingredients the proportionof meat may be reduced significantly, the proportion typically being inthe range of 60-80% by weight, calculated on the product. The resultingfat content of such hamburger products are typically in the range of18-25% by weight.

The present invention provides low calorie hamburger products accordingto the invention, which products comprise only comminuted meatsubstantially free from visible fat and the above defined fatreplacement ingredient as well as hamburger products which in additionto said comminuted meat and the fat replacement ingredient comprises oneor more ingredients selected from the group consisting of added salt,added water and further ingredients as defined hereinbelow. Even if thepreferred source of meat for hamburgers is beef, other edible meatsderived from other animal species may be used in hamburgers, such asveal, pork and lamb.

In an other embodiment of the invention there is provided a low caloriemeat product wherein the mixture is a coherent forcemeat mixture. In thepresent context the term "a coherent forcemeat mixture" is used toindicate a low calorie meat product mixture which forms a stablehomogeneously integrated mass in which the comminuted meat substantiallyfree from visible fat and the added vegetable fat replacement ingredientduring the mixing is subjected to mechanical forces whereby the particlesize of the ingredients is reduced to levels where these ingredients areno longer visually recognizable and where they together with added salt,added water and optionally further ingredients as defined herein formsthe above defined integrated mass having a coherent homogeneousconsistency essentially without visually recognizable particles. It isalso understood that this coherent structure of the mixture is retainedduring cooking and storage of the final products. Typical examples ofsuch coherent forcemeat mixtures are mixtures for the preparing ofsausage products, sliceable meat products and spreadable meat products.

When conventional sausage products, sliceable meat products andspreadable meat products comprising a significant proportion of fat isproduced, the mixing of the ingredients results in the formation of acoherent forcemeat mixture in the form of a stable fat-water-proteinemulsion. It has now surprisingly been found that a coherent forcemeatmixture as defined above can be obtained even if substantially all fatis replaced by a vegetable fat replacement ingredient according to theinvention. It will be understood that the physical nature of theresulting low calorie forcemeat mixture according to the inventiondiffers fundamentally from a traditional fat-water-protein meat productemulsion.

Thus, in one embodiment of the invention there is provided a low caloriemeat product, the product comprising:

a) a coherent forcemeat mixture comprising

(1) comminuted lean meat substantially free from visible fat, theproportion hereof being in the range of 20-90% by weight, calculated onthe mixture,

(2) a vegetable fat replacement ingredient comprising dietary fiber andstarch in a weight ratio which is in the range of 1:32 to 1:1, theproportion of the dietary fiber being at least 5% by weight of the fatreplacement ingredient dry matter when determined as non-starchpolysaccharides (NPS), and the proportion of the starch being at least50% by weight of the fat replacement ingredient dry matter, which fatreplacement ingredient is capable of having or being brought into ahomogeneous consistency essentially without sensory recognizableparticles in the coherent mixture, the proportion of said vegetable fatreplacement ingredient being in the range of 5-80% by weight, calculatedon the mixture,

(3) added salt, the proportion hereof being in the range of 0.1-4% byweight, calculated on the mixture,

(4) added water, the proportion of which is in the range of 10-50% byweight, calculated on the mixture, and

(b) optionally one or more further ingredients,

the product having a fat content which is at the most 10% by weight.

It is preferred that the total proportion of fat in the resultingcoherent forcemeat mixture-comprising products is less than 8% byweight, said proportion more preferable being less than 7% by weight,even more preferably less than 6% by weight, still more preferably lessthan 5% by weight, highly preferably less than 4% by weight and inparticular less than 3% by weight.

As defined above, the low calorie meat products according to theinvention comprises a vegetable ingredient as a fat replacementingredient, the proportion of which, calculated on the mixture is in therange of 5-80%. It will be understood that the desired vegetableingredient proportion in a particular product may depend on i.a. theproportions of the dietary fiber and starch of the selected vegetableingredient.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the total amount of dietaryfiber and starch present in the vegetable fat replacement ingredient isat least 5% by weight, calculated on the product. It is furthermorecontemplated that for the preparation of certain types of low caloriemeat products an even higher minimum total amount of dietary fiber andstarch may be desirable such as at least 7% by Weight or even morepreferably, at least 10% by weight.

According to the invention it is possible to provide low calorie meatproducts in which essentially all fat is replaced by a vegetable fatreplacement ingredient as defined above, in such a way that theresulting products have the desired sensory and physical characteristicsassociated with similar types of conventionally prepared high-fat meatproducts. In addition, it can be contemplated that due to theirsignificantly reduced fat, cholesterol and calorie content andoptionally reduced salt content, the meat products according to theinvention are nutritionally more favorable especially to consumers whoare prone to developing cardio-vascular disorders or who have a desireto maintain or reduce their body weight. Furthermore, it may beconsidered advantageous by many consumers that the products as hereindescribed can be prepared with a reduced content of chemical additivessuch as phosphates or anti-oxidants which are commonly used inconventional high calorie meat products having a high fat content.

The low calorie meat products according to the invention have thedesired characteristics regarding texture, taste, flavour, cookingyields, stability to freezing and thawing, and appearance associatedwith similar conventional high-fat meat products types.

In the present context, the term "low calorie" is understood to indicatethat the total amount of metabolizable energy contained in the meatproducts according to the invention is significantly reduced as comparedto the energy content of traditionally prepared meat products. Overall,the energy content of a food product derives primarily from its contentof protein, carbohydrate and fat. However, the contribution of the fatpart of a food product to the total energy content relative to the otheringredients is per weight unit more than the double. Accordingly, theproportion of fat e.g. in meat products is rather decisive for theenergy content of the products which energy content is generallyindicated as calories or Joules per weight unit. In industrializedwestern countries like USA the fat in the average diet contributes withabout 40% of the total energy intake. It is recommended by nutritioniststhat this contribution should be reduced to at least 30%.

In the low calorie meat products as defined above, the fat content isreduced to such an extent that the total content of energy can bereduced to less than half, preferably to about one third of the energycontent of conventionally prepared meat products having a fat contentwhich typically varies between 25 and 50% by weight. The low caloriemeat products according to the present invention has a total energycontent of less than 700 kJ/100 g, preferably less than 600 kJ/100 g,more preferably less than 500 kJ/100 g, and in particular less than 400kJ/100 g. The contribution of the fat content of the low calorie meatproducts according to the invention to the total energy content hereofis less than 50%, preferably less than 40%, more preferably less than30% and in particular less than 20%.

Examples of ingredient formulations resulting in meat products havingthe indicated desired low calorie contents are given below. It will beunderstood that the actual energy contribution from fat will depend onthe amounts and types of other ingredients in a given meat product. Inthe present context, the term "low calorie" is used specifically todescribe meat products having a total fat content (w/w) less than 15%,preferably less than 10%, more preferably less than 7%, most preferablyless than 5%, and in particular less than 3%.

Characteristics of the vegetable far replacement ingredient

To obtain a low calorie meat product comprising a mixture as definedabove it is essential to select a suitable vegetable fat replacementingredient which confers physical and sensory characteristics to thefinal low calorie meat products of essentially the same nature as thoseof similar traditional high-fat meat products. The vegetable fatreplacement ingredient according to the invention may be one singleingredient or a mixture of ingredients comprising dietary fiber being ina proportion of at least 5% by weight of the fat replacement ingredientdry matter and starch, the proportion of which is at least 50% by weighton a fat replacement ingredient dry matter basis. In the vegetableingredient the weight ratio of the dietary fiber and the starch is inthe range of 1:32 to 1:1, a preferred range being 1:20 to 1:2, a morepreferred range being 1:15 to 1:3 and a most preferred range being 1:10to 1:4.

The vegetable ingredient according to the invention has or is capable ofbeing brought into a homogeneous consistency without sensoryrecognizable particles, it is substantially free from fat and has aneutral taste and colour whereby it does not affect the desired sensorycharacteristics of the resulting meat products. In the present context aneutral taste means that the taste of the fat replacement ingredienteven when it is present in a low calorie meat product in the highestproportion as defined above does not affect the resulting taste of thelow calorie meat products according to the invention in such a way thatsaid low calorie meat products when tested by a sensory test panel cannot be recognized as having a less acceptable taste than similarhigh-fat meat products.

A further characteristic of the fat replacement ingredient is that it ismiscible with the other ingredients in such a way that a coherentmixture is obtainable. The term "miscible" is used to describe that whenthe fat replacement ingredient is mixed with the other ingredients ofthe coherent mixture, a smooth homogeneously integrated mass is formedand into which coherent mixture all of the added water has been stablyabsorbed.

The vegetable dietary fiber- and starch-containing fat replacementingredient which when used for the preparation of low calorie meatproducts in the above defined amounts confer the above desiredcharacteristics on the products, is primarily selected on the basis ofthe amount and the chemical and physical characteristics of the dietaryfiber and starch contained therein.

Characteristics of the starch component of fat replacement ingredients

Starch is a naturally occurring, high-polymeric carbohydrate which isthe reserve carbohydrate of plants. Starch occur in plant material inthe form of white granules, usually made up of both a linear polymer(amylose) and a branched polymer (amylopectin). Starches of differentbotanical origins exhibit differences in their physical characteristicsand chemical composition. Starch granules from grains such as rice andmaize vary between 3 and 20 μm with respect to the average size of theirlargest diameter, and those from roots and tubers such as tapioca,arrowroot, or potatoes between 10 and 100 μm. Thus, as examples, ricestarch has an average granule size of about 4 μm, corn starch one ofabout 14 μm and potato starch one of about 100 μm. Starch granules swellprogressively in water as the temperature is raised into the range of60-70° C. This swelling phenomenon is an indication of the binding ofwater to the starch. Above this temperature level the granules undergogelatinization whereby a paste or sol is formed. In general, smallgranules swell and gelatinize more slowly and at a higher temperaturethan large granules. The structure of the individual granules may bedisrupted by mechanical means. After rupture, the granules tend to swelland gelatinize even in cold water. Large granules, such as those ofpotato starch are more fragile than small granules of e.g. rice starch.Starches which have been pre-gelatinized by heat treatments andsubsequently dried such as commercial starch products swells andgelatinize readily at temperature levels below that indicated above fornon-treated starches.

Furthermore, starches of different botanical origins may vary in theirchemical composition. Thus the distribution between amylose andamylopectin may vary and the content of lipids may be different. In thelatter respect there is a characteristic difference between grainstarches and starches derived from tubers and roots. In grain starchesthe amylose is in the form of a lipid-amylose complex whereas in tuberand root starches the amounts of lipids are insignificant. Thus, wheatstarch contains 0.23% ether extractable components whereas potato starchcontains only 0.12%. The relatively high lipid content of grain starchesmay have a bearing on the technological properties thereof, e.g. asregards their use as water binding ingredients in meat products since ithas been reported that defatting of such starches increase their waterbinding capacities and swelling powers (Lorenz et al., 1983,Starch/Starke, 35, 123-129). Based upon these physical and chemicalcharacteristics of different botanical forms of native starch it iscontemplated that a particularly suitable vegetable fat replacementingredient for the preparation of low calorie meat products according tothe invention contains starch which in its native form comprisesgranules having an average size within the range of about 10-200 μm,preferably within the range of about 50-150 μm and which issubstantially free from fat. The term "substantially free from fat" inthis context indicates that the total amount of ether extractablecomponents of the starch is less than about 0.15% by weight.

Starch or the starch fractions, amylose and amylopectin may be modifiedby heating with or without the addition of chemical reagents. Thistreatment may result in starch products having properties useful in thepresent invention. As an example, the treatment of starch with acidssuch as sulphuric acid causes a partial hydrolysis hereof, whereby"thin-boiling" starches are obtained. Starches may also be oxidized,e.g. by treatment with hypochlorite, whereby chlorinated starches areproduced.

Furthermore, derivatives of starch may be useful components of a fatreplacement ingredient according to the invention. Such derivatives maybe starch esters such as acetates and carbamates of starch or fractionsthereof or starch ethers such as hydroxy alkyl starch. In the context ofthe present invention the term "starch" is understood to includemodified starches or modified starch fractions as defined above as wellas the above defined starch derivatives.

When subjected to physical or chemical treatment starch may be degradedto smaller molecules of varying sizes, e.g. as a result of hydrolysis.Starch may be hydrolysed by chemical treatment with organic or inorganicacids or bases. Furthermore, hydrolysis of starch may be the result oftreatment with starch hydrolyzing enzymes such as amylases orglucanases. An example of a chemical or enzymatic hydrolysate of starchwhich is useful in the food industry is maltodextrin. This term is usedto describe a product comprising a mixture of oltgosaccharides andpolysaccharides resulting from chemical or enzymatic hydrolysis ofstarches. A typical maltodextrin product contains less than 5% by weightof disaccharides and trisaccharides and about 95% by weight of highersaccharides. In the context of the present invention the term starch isunderstood to include maltodextrins as defined above.

During their experimentation the present inventors have found thatattempts to replace fat in meat products with maltodextrins alone werenot successful since such products do not have the same consumeracceptable sensory characteristics as those of high fat meat products.However, when a mixture of maltodextrins and dietary fiber in the sameweight ratios as those defined hereinbelow for useful mixtures of starchand dietary fiber is used to replace fat, the resulting low calorieproducts have essentially the same taste, texture and appearance assimilar high fat meat product types. Hence a mixture of maltodextrinsand dietary fiber is an interesting vegetable fat replacement ingredientin low calorie meat products according to the invention.

Vegetable materials comprising at least 50% by weight of starch in thedry matter are suitable as fat replacement ingredients according to theinvention. However, in particular low calorie meat products it may bemore preferred that the proportion of starch is at least 60% and evenmore preferred that it is at least 70%. It will, however, be understoodthat the addition of vegetable materials comprising a proportion ofstarch in the dry matter which is below 50% may also result in lowcalorie meat products which have acceptable sensory and physicalcharacteristics according to the definitions defined above.

Potato starch has several characteristics which makes it particularlysuitable in the preparation of low calorie meat products which involvesthe preparation of a coherent meat product mixture. In such mixtures,the water binding capacity is an essential factor. In order to form asmooth coherent mixture which binds native and added water strongly,sufficient amounts of substances or ingredients having binding activitymust be present. The meat itself contains a native water bindingcomponent, viz. myosin. Myosin is extracted during the mixing processwhen salt is present. In several types of meat product formulations thisnative water binding system is not sufficiently effective, for whichreason additional water binding agents are added to the mixture. Suchwater binding agents may e.g. be selected from hydrocolloids, eggalbumin, gelatin, cereal flours, starch, or collagen.

Potato starch has the highest water binding capacity of any starch,because it has the lowest degree of association between the starchmolecules. For this reason potato starch has been used in conventionalhigh-fat meat products to aid in water binding, in smaller amounts,usually ranging between 1 and 5% by weight of the meat product. It willbe understood that this known use of potato starch as a water bindingingredient in the preparation of meat products is by no means comparablewith the use thereof in the context of the present invention. When usedin high-fat meat products, potato starch is not intended to replace fateven if it will be understood that any addition of ingredients over andabove the high-fat meat to the high-fat base mixture will result in anindirect reduction of the final fat content proportionate to the amountof any added further ingredients.

Characteristics of the dietary fiber component of far replacementingredients

During their experimentation the present inventors have found thatreplacement of fat by a vegetable ingredient essentially comprisingstarch or maltodextrins did not regularly result in low calorie meatproducts having the above desired sensory and physical characteristics.However, these characteristics were constantly achieved when a vegetablefat replacement ingredient was used which in addition to starch in aproportion of 50% or higher of the dry matter comprised at least 5%dietary fiber in its dry matter. A particularly useful dietaryfiber:starch weight ratio in the fat replacement ingredient is in therange of 1:20 to 1:2, preferably in the range of 1:15 to 1:3 and mostpreferably in the range of 1:10 to 1:4

Essentially all plant materials contain dietary fiber, particularly intheir cell walls. In the present context dietary fiber is used todescribe a plant material which resists digestion by the humanalimentary enzymes.

Dietary fiber is a generic term that includes a number of uniquechemical structures and characteristic physical properties. Theprincipal components of dietary fiber are the major structuralcomponents of plant cell walls: cellulose, non-cellulosicpolysaccharides, mainly hemicellulose and pectic substances, and lignin.All dietary fiber components apart from lignin are non-starchpolysaccharides (NSP). The term NSP are frequently used as a practicalindication of the dietary fiber content of a plant material. It should,however, be noticed that NSP does not include lignin. Cell walls ofimmature plants consist of about 25% cellulose, 60% non-cellulosicpolysaccharides and a trace of lignin, whereas the mature cell wallcontains approximately 38% cellulose, 43% non-cellulosic polysaccharide,and 17% lignin.

In the present context, the term dietary fiber includes native orsynthetic polysaccharides such as pectin, carrageenans, gums (includinggum arabic, locust bean gum, guar gum, gum tragacanth, gum karaya),mucilages, algal polysaccharides such as alginates, and modifiedcelluloses. including cellulose aliphatic ethers such as methyl andethyl ethers, hydroxy-substituted ethers such as hydroxypropylmethylether, methylhydroxyethyl ether, carboxymethyl ether, hydroxymethylether and mixtures of such ethers.

A particular type of dietary fiber, viz. konjak mannan which has a veryhigh content of glucomannans (more than 80% by weight of dry matter) hasbeen suggested as a gelling agent in certain food products. However,this fiber product is not useful in the present invention as a dietaryfiber component in a vegetable fat replacement ingredient. When e.g.konjak mannan is mixed with minced meat and subjected to gelation beforeor after the mixing the consistency of the resulting product isseriously impaired due to a very high viscoelasticity. Furthermore, itis known that the water-holding capacity of konjak mannan deterioratessignificantly when a gel hereof or a meat product comprising such gel isfrozen and thawed, whereby the gel changes into a spongy substance. Ithas been suggested to solve these problems by adding konjak mannan aloneor in combination with a carbohydrate substance to meat productformulations in the form of a strongly alkaline gel or paste having a pHin the range of 9.0 to 10.4. Depending on the amount of the alkalinekonjak component added, such an addition will result in an increase ofpH in the meat product which is in the order of 0.5. However, suchadditions of strongly alkaline substances to meat products are notallowed in most countries. Finally, it is to be envisaged that theincorporation of such alkaline ingredients i meat products may result inaberrant organoleptic characteristics of the meat product. Finally, aprocess of preparing a meat product comprising the preparing of analkaline konjak gel will be cumbersome and hence less cost effectivethan the process according to the invention. For the above reasonskonjak mannan does not form part of the present invention.

Common sources of dietary fiber are: cereals, especially theparenchymatous endosperm and seed coats; fruits and vegetables,especially parenchymatous flesh, partly lignified vascular tissues, andcutinized epidermal tissues; and seeds in the parenchymatous cotyledonsand thickened endospermal walls.

The proportion of dietary fiber in plant materials varies according tothe botanical species and the maturity of the plant. As examplespotatoes contain about 2.5% by weight corresponding to about 11.6% byweight on a dry matter basis and carrots about 2.1% of NSP on a freshweight basis corresponding to about 18.3% by weight on a dry matterbasis, and dried materials such as soy flour and dried peas containabout 14% and 19%, respectively of NSP on a dry weight basis. Amongcereal materials white wheat flour has a NSP content of about 3.3%,whole wheat flour one of about 10.4%, and wheat bran one of about 41.7%,all figures on a dry weight basis. The proportion of NSP in brown ricedry matter is about 2.1% by dry weight.

Dietary fibers have a number of physical properties which singly or incombination in the presence of a high proportion of starch maycontribute to their usefulness as a component of a fat replacementingredient. From a technological point of view two major groups ofdietary fiber components can be distinguished: (1) water-solublecomponents which include gums, pectins, carrageenans, mucilages andalginates. Such components are widely used in the food industry asthickening, gelling or stabilizing agents due to their ability to formhydrocolloids and (2) substantially water-insoluble dietary fibercomponents including hemicellulose and cellulose. A common feature ofwater-insoluble fibers is their ability to swell when mixed with water.This swelling property is also referred to as water holding capacitywhich indicates the amount of water which can be absorbed to the fiber.One important property in this respect is hydratability which i.a. is afunction of a fiber's three-dimensional structure. Hydratability isreflected in a high water holding capacity. Particularly commerciallyinteresting water-insoluble dietary fiber products useful in the presentinvention include pea fiber, potato fiber, tapioca fiber, beet fiber andcereal brans.

Both groups of dietary fibers as defined above are useful as componentsof a vegetable fat replacement ingredient according to the invention.Examples of use of both groups are given hereinbelow.

The use of fat replacement ingredients comprising a dietary fiberproportion in the range of 8-12% by weight of dry matter results in meatproducts of the desired quality. However, consumer preferences as to thetexture and consistency of meat products may vary considerably indifferent market places. Since the proportion of dietary fiber mayinfluence these product characteristics an appropriate proportion ofdietary fiber in the fat replacement ingredient may vary considerably.It is considered that in general a minimum proportion of 5% NSP of thedry matter of the fat replacement ingredient is required to obtain anoptimum low calorie meat product. However, it is not precluded that asmaller proportion of NSP in the coherent mixture may result in asatisfactory quality of certain meat products. It is contemplated that aproportion of dietary fiber lower than 5% NPS in the fat replacementingredient may be appropriate in particular product types where foodadditives belonging to the group of compounds defined above as dietaryfiber are used as additional ingredients. It is considered that thedietary fiber-type additive in such products in addition to its specificeffect as a food additive may when added to the coherent mixturecontribute to obtain a low calorie meat product having the above desiredcharacteristics. In other types of low calorie meat products aconsiderably higher dietary fiber proportion may be appropriate such ashigher than 15% NSP.

The dietary fiber may be in a native form which term indicates that itis present in the naturally occurring state and that it has not beenmodified by chemical processes such as substitution of certain moietieswith others; treatment with acids, bases or enzymes; or esterification.

Useful vegetable fat replacement ingredients according to the invention

The vegetable fat replacement ingredient according to the invention maybe a native non-fractionated plant material having a water content of atleast 70% by weight i.e. fresh material in which the natural relativecomposition of components has not been changed. Such fresh plantmaterials include vegetable fruits such as pumpkins. Preferred nativenon-fractionated vegetable fat replacement ingredients according to theinvention are selected from plant tuber materials such as potatoes andplant root materials such as tapioca roots, cassava roots or arrowroots.Such non-fractionated fresh plant material may be used as a fatreplacement ingredient without any pretreatment. It is, however,considered that pre-cooking of the material is advantageous with regardto obtaining an appropriate coherent mixture. It is contemplated thati.a. the swelling of starch resulting from the heat treatment increasesthe water binding capacity of the fat replacement ingredientsignificantly. The appropriate time/temperature conditions forpre-cooking varies according to the type of fat replacement ingredientand the type of meat product being prepared. As an example peeledpotatoes are pre-cooked by boiling in open air for about 20 minutes orin a pressure cooker for a time period sufficient to obtain the sametenderness as that obtained by the above boiling in open air.

It may be advantageous to have a raw or pre-cooked non-fractionatedplant material comminuted prior to preparing the mixture. As an exampleboiled potatoes may be added in the form of comminuted or mashedpotatoes which e.g. may be prepared by blending the boiled potatoes withall or a portion of the added water. The appropriate temperature of asuitable fresh non-fractionated plant material such as a boiled potatoingredient when it is added to the mixture may vary according to theproduct type being prepared. With certain product types it isadvantageous to add the boiled fat replacement ingredient at atemperature within the range of 0°-25° C., whereas with other producttypes such as a paste product, the boiled ingredient is added whilestill hot.

When the selected fat replacement ingredient is a nativenon-fractionated plant material as defined above, a particularly usefulproportion hereof in the coherent mixture is within the range of 10-70%by weight, preferably within the range of 15-60% by weight and morepreferably within the range of 20-50% by weight.

In one embodiment of the invention the vegetable fat replacementingredient may be a dry plant material having a water content of at themost 20% by weight. When such a dry material is used the amount of addedwater in the mixture has to be increased essentially relative to theamount required when a fresh plant material is used. In general, therequired extra amount of added water corresponds to the differencebetween the water content of a fresh plant material and that of theparticular dry fat replacement ingredient. When the selected vegetablefat replacement ingredient is a dry ingredient as defined above, apreferred useful proportion hereof in the coherent mixture is within therange of 5-15% by weight and more preferably within the range of 5-10%by weight.

A suitable dry vegetable fat replacement ingredient for use according tothe invention may be a non-fractionated plant material selected fromplant tubers, root crops, cereal grains and dicotyledonous plant seedshaving in their dry matter a starch content of at least 50% by weightand a dietary fiber content of at least 5% by weight. Examples of suchmaterials include: dried potatoes, lentils, wheat kernels, rye kernels,barley groats, and wheat wholemeal. It will be understood that such dryplant materials may be dehydrated, pre-cooked and/or divided into fineparticles prior to use in order to obtain a coherent mixture in whichthe fat replacement ingredient occur without sensory recognizableparticles. When a dry non-fractionated native plant material selectedfrom cereal grains and dicotyledonous plant seeds is used as a fatreplacement ingredient according to the invention it may preferably bein the form of particles having a largest diameter of at the most 2 mm.As defined hereinbefore the fat replacement ingredient according to theinvention is an ingredient which when present in the mixture is capableof having or being brought into a homogeneous consistency withoutsensory recognizable particles. This characteristic is considered to bean essential prerequisite for obtaining the low calorie meat producthaving a consistency which cannot be distinguished from that of asimilar product having a high content of fat. A vegetable ingredienthaving a water content less than 20% by weight and selected from cerealgrains and dicotyledonous seeds which has a particle size of more than 2mm such as oat flakes, may not be brought into the desired homogeneousconsistency when certain conventional mixing procedures are used.

From a manufacturing point of view it may be particularly advantageousto use a fat replacement ingredient having a water content of at themost 20% by weight as defined hereinbefore which is a mixture of dryseparated starch and dry separated dietary fiber. It is possible tocompound such starch/dietary fiber mixtures which when used as fatreplacement ingredients in accordance with the invention result in lowcalorie meat products having the above defined sensory and physicalcharacteristics. Particularly useful starches for such compounded fatreplacement ingredients are grain flour starches such as corn starch,potato starch and tapioca starch. In general, commercial starch productshave not been subjected to treatment at swelling conditions. However, itmay be advantageous to use starch which prior to compounding has beenpre-boiled and/or subsequently dried.

In this context useful dietary fiber products are potato fiber, potatopulp, beet fiber, pea fiber, bean fiber, and tapioca fiber. As usedherein potato pulp is meant to describe the part of a potato which isremaining when starch has been partially extracted from raw potatoes inan industrial potato starch manufacturing process. A typical compositionof an industrially prepared potato pulp is as follows (w/w): Starch 30%,cellulose 25-30%, hemicellulose 10-15%, pectic substances 15%, ashes 5%,and protein 5%.

In a particular embodiment of the invention the fat replacementingredient is obtained by supplementing a native non-fractionated plantmaterial of which material the dry matter proportion of dietary fiber isless than 5% by weight and/or of which the dry matter proportion ofstarch is less than 50%, with a sufficient amount of separated dietaryfiber and/or separated starch to result in a vegetable fat replacementaccording to the invention.

As an example, carrots which have a high dietary fiber content but a lowstarch content may be supplemented with a sufficient amount of aseparated starch material. Likewise, polished (white) rice and brownrice which are grains rich in starch but with a dietary fiber content ofonly about 0.8% and about 2.4% by weight, respectively can be useful asthe starch component of a useful fat replacement ingredient according tothe invention when supplemented with one or more dietary fibercomponents as defined above. When using a mixture of rice and a dietaryfiber component as the fat replacement ingredient it is preferred thatat least the raw rice is boiled prior to being added to the otheringredients of the coherent mixture. It may be convenient to usepre-boiled or parboiled rice since the boiling time in the productionplant is reduced significantly.

When traditional high-fat meat products are prepared it is common to addstarch- and dietary fiber containing ingredients e.g. in the form ofcereal flours and potato starch as auxiliary ingredients in smalleramounts such as 2-3% by weight, calculated on the product, the mainpurpose hereof being improved absorption of added water. Suchingredients may also be added to the low calorie meat products accordingto the invention. It will be understood that when such ingredients arebeing present they form part of the vegetable fat replacement ingredientas defined above.

In order to obtain low calorie products according to the invention whichhave a desirable shelf life it is essential that the vegetable fatreplacement ingredients have a low content of contaminating spoilagemicroorganisms. It may therefore be required that the ingredients priorto being used in the production have been subjected to a chemical orphysical decontaminating treatment resulting in a desired low level ofmicroorganisms. Examples of useful decontaminating treatments aremechanical removal of attached soil, removal of the outer layers(peeling), washing, heat treatment, treatment with decontaminating gasessuch as ethylene oxide and ionizing irradiation.

When used according to the invention the starch- and dietary fibercontaining ingredients as defined above satisfy all the requirements ofa highly suitable fat replacement ingredient: The taste and flavour ofthe above fat replacement ingredients and their colour are neutral, forwhich reason they may constitute relatively large proportions of the lowcalorie meat product formulations without affecting negatively thedesired taste and flavour associated with the meat, seasonings, andspices. It has even been found that the amounts of seasonings and spicescan be reduced considerably in meat products prepared according to theprocess of the invention relative to conventional high-fat meatproducts. It is contemplated that this surprising effect may be ascribedto the reduced content of fat which generally decreases the intensity oftaste and flavour contributed by added flavour regulating ingredients.

Furthermore, the vegetable fat replacement ingredients have desirabletechnological characteristics when applied according to the invention.The ingredients bind with the meat and other ingredients including addedwater to provide a coherent meat product mixture resulting in a texture,appearance, cooking yield, and stability to freezing in the finishedmeat product which are at least equivalent to what can be obtained forhigh-fat meat products. It has even been found that the water bindingactivity of the fat replacement ingredients are so pronounced that theaddition of conventionally used water binding agents such as phosphatescan be reduced or omitted.

It has surprisingly been found that a sensory test panel cannot withtheir senses distinguish the fat replacement ingredient present in a lowcalorie meat product prepared according to the invention from fatglobules present in a conventionally prepared high-fat meat product. Itis contemplated that one prerequisite herefor is that the fatreplacement ingredient has a homogeneous consistency without sensoryrecognizable particles when added to the mixture or which during theprocess according to the invention is easily disintegrated to particleswhich are not sensory recognizable.

The required amount of the vegetable fat replacement ingredients asdefined above depends on the particular type of meat product beingprepared, the maximum allowable cost price, and the amounts andcharacteristics of the other ingredients including the additionalingredients defined below. As it has been explained hereinbefore, thecompositions of the fat replacement ingredients varies considerably inparticular regarding contents of starch, fiber and dry matter.Accordingly, the required amount of vegetable fat replacementingredients may also vary according to the composition of the selectedfat replacement ingredient. As an example, the same technologicalcharacteristics and quality of a particular low calorie meat product maybe achieved with two different fat replacement ingredients used indifferent proportions.

The meat ingredient of low calorie meat produces

In the meat product mixture as defined above the proportion ofcomminuted lean meat substantially free from fat is in the range of20-95% by weight calculated on the mixture, preferably in the range of25-70% by weight, and in particular in the range of 30-50% by weight. Inthe present context meat is defined as animal tissues predominantlyconsisting of muscles and/or edible offal from the group of organsconsisting of liver, kidneys, spleens, brains, tongues, or sweetbreads,said animal tissues having a water content substantially as the watercontent of the tissues when present in the live animal. The meat may beselected from any animal species, the meat of which is considered to beedible according to cultural or religious traditions. In order to besuitable for use according to the invention the meat must be lean andsubstantially free from visible fat. When the low calorie meat productis a pet food intended for feeding carnivorous pet animals such as dogsand cats less valuable meats may be used including offal products whichare generally less acceptable as human food products, such asintestines, stomachs, genital organs or respiratory organs.

In the meat industry the term "lean" is generally used to describe meatpredominantly comprising muscular tissue with attached connective tissueand varying minor proportions of attached surrounding fat. It will beunderstood that the degree of leanness can vary considerably. As usedherein, however, lean meat is understood to mean meat essentiallycomprising muscular or offal tissue with associated connective tissuesand from which surrounding natural fat has been removed mechanicallye.g. by cutting to an extent where essentially all visible fat tissuehas been removed. It will, however, be understood that meats having afat content which, when the proportion of the meat in a particularproduct formulation is taken into consideration, will result in a totalfat content of the meat product which is within the range definedhereinbefore, are included within the scope of this invention. However,most animal muscular tissue contains fat in the cells (intracellularly)and embedded between muscular cells (intercellularly). The content ofthis "internal" fat which cannot be removed by mechanical meanstypically constitutes 1-10 weight percent, the level depending on theanimal species, the age and feeding condition of the animal, and theanatomical location of particular muscles. It will be understood thatthe internal fat is included in the term "lean meat substantially freefrom visible fat".

The thus defined meat can be used in a raw condition or, when it isappropriate in the preparation of a particular product type, the meatmay be cooked prior to preparing the meat product mixture as required,by a suitable cooking procedure such as boiling, frying or pressurecooking. When used, the meat ingredient can have any temperature between0° and 100° C., or it may even be in a frozen state.

It is essential for obtaining a coherent mixture that the meat whenadded has been comminuted to particle sizes allowing an effective mixingprocess during which a further comminution may occur. The comminution iscarried out by cutting with knives or by grinding in a suitable grindingapparatus whereby the particle size is reduced to 5 mm or less. It isconsidered essential that the comminuted meat has not at any stage beensubjected to complete or partial dehydration since it is well-knownwithin the art that dehydrated meat when reconstituted does not regainthe desired physical properties of non-dehydrated meat such as the waterbinding capacity.

The proportion of comminuted lean meat substantially free from visiblefat in the above defined low calorie mixture is in the range of 20-95%by weight, the actual proportion primarily being dependent on therequired type of meat product and the maximum allowable cost price. Themeat for a particular meat product type may be selected from a singleanimal species in which case a specific muscle/offal or differentmuscles and/or offal tissues of the selected animal species may be usedwhereas in other cases it may be desirable to use a combination of meatsfrom more than one animal species in a meat product according to theinvention.

Added water referred to herein can be ordinary tap water, mineral wateror water in which meat or vegetables have been cooked, whereby lowmolecular weight flavouring substances, minerals and vitamins dissolvedtherein is being supplied to the mixture. As an example potato potliquor may be used. It may be advantageous to keep the temperature lowin the mixture during mixing. A chilling of the mixture may be obtainedby adding all or part of the water as ice, preferably in the form ofcrushed ice. In accordance with the invention the proportion of addedwater used in the process is in the range of 10-50% by weight,preferably 15-40% by weight, and in particular 20-35% by weight, theactual proportion depending primarily on the particular product type andthe maximum product cost price aimed at.

The salt ingredient of the low calorie meat products

In the present context the term "added salt" is understood to mean afood-grade composition essentially comprising sodium chloride, afood-grade composition comprising sodium chloride and additional saltsor a food grade composition comprising one or more alkali metal oralkaline earth metal salts, the compositions comprising other salts thansodium chloride having essentially the same salty taste as sodiumchloride. A usual term for a salt composition essentially comprisingsodium chloride is common salt.

Salt as defined above is added to most meat products for severalpurposes: It aids in the extraction of myosin from the meat wherebywater binding in the product is enhanced. Furthermore, the additionresults in a salty taste which is preferred by most consumers, andfinally the presence of salt in meat products has a preserving effectdue to partial or complete inhibition of spoilage microorganisms.According to the present invention the coherent mixture comprises addedsalt in the range of 0-4% by weight, preferably in the range of 0.5-3%by weight, and in particular in the range of 1-2% by weight.

For some meat products it may be advantageous to add salt as definedabove supplemented with nitrites and/or nitrates e.g. in the form ofalkali metal salts such as sodium or potassium nitrites and/or nitrates.In the meat industry such salt compositions are referred to as "curingsalt". The added nitrites and/or nitrates exert a preserving effect inparticular against undesirable anaerobic microorganisms such asClostridium botulinum. In addition, the presence of nitrites and/ornitrates in red meat products assists in preserving the natural redcolour of such meats. The proportion of nitrites and/or nitrates incuring salts is suitably in the range of 0.5-2.0% by weight. Thus,curing salt used in specific embodiments of the present inventioncontains 0.6% by weight of sodium nitrite.

Although it is generally desirable for the reasons indicated above toincorporate a certain proportion of added common salt in meat productformulations, a high dietary intake of sodium ions in the form of commonsalt may be a matter of considerable health concern. In industrializedcountries the intake of sodium ions from the daily diet is significantlyhigher than what is physiologically required and desirable and at thesame time the proportion of other cations such as potassium isfrequently lower than the recommended intake hereof. Thisdisproportionate cation composition of the diet is generally ascribed tothe increasing addition of common salt to food products and to the factthat e.g. grain products become increasingly refined whereby especiallythe content of potassium ions in the overall diet is reducedconsiderably. It is considered that this disproportionate cationcomposition may lead to cardiovascular disorders such as hypertensionand degenerative diseases. A need therefore exists to reduce dietarysodium intake and/or to increase the potassium intake.

One approach to fulfill this need is to reduce the common salt contentin meat products. It has been found by the present inventors that it ispossible to obtain low calorie meat products according to the inventionin which products the proportion of common salt is lower than thosetypically used in high fat meat products essentially without impairmentof the above desired effects of added common salt including the saltytaste. In addition hereto the replacement of fat by a dietaryfiber/starch-containing vegetable ingredient may contribute considerablyto correction of the disproportionate dietary cation composition, vizwhen the fat replacement ingredient is one having a high proportion ofpotassium relative to fat. As an example, potatoes contain about 400 mgpotassium/100 g whereas the content in pork fat is only about 25 mg/100g.

An other approach to fulfilling the desire to reduce sodium content inthe present low calorie meat products is to add food grade saltcompositions having an acceptable salty taste in which most of or atleast a part of the sodium ions has been replaced by other cations. Suchfood grade salt compositions having reduced sodium content may bereferred to as common salt replacement compositions. The cations in suchcompositions may be selected from alkali metals such as potassium and/orfrom alkaline earth metals including magnesium and calcium. The cationsare added in the form of organic salts such as lactates or tartrates oras inorganic salts including chlorides and sulphates. It will beunderstood that the exact composition of such salt compositions withreduced sodium content for use according to the invention may be variedinfinitely, the selected composition depending on the particular productand the consumer preference in particular market places.

Low calorie pet animal food products

In one embodiment of the present invention, the low calorie meat productis a low calorie pet animal food product. In this context, the term petanimals is used to designate carnivorous animals such as dogs and cats.There are certain significant differences between the compositions ofmeat products for human consumption and pet food products. In contrastto meat products intended for human consumption, most industriallyprepared pet food products are whole-meal products, the composition ofwhich must be balanced so as to cover all nutritional requirements ofthe pet animal in question. Furthermore, typical whole-meat pet foodproducts have a relatively low content of fat. Thus, as an example, awhole-meal dog food composition may comprise the major nutritionalingredients in the following ranges (weight %): protein 7.0-13.0%, fat4.0-6.0%, carbohydrates 2.0-7.0%, water 71.0-84.5% and ashes 2.5-3.0%. Acontent of fat in the indicated ranges, however, contributessignificantly to the total energy content of the product and there is aconsiderable need to develop dog food compositions having a reduced fatcontent relative to the above proportions.

An important requirement to be met by pet food products is a high degreeof pet animal acceptance. In the pet food industry, products aretherefore normally tested by a panel of the animals in question to testthat the product has the desired acceptability. In the context of thepresent invention, it is therefore understood that the low calorie meatproducts being pet food products when they are tested in acceptabilitystudies as normally used in the industry has essentially the sameacceptability as products in which fat has not been replaced by a fatreplacement ingredient as defined herein.

The major contribution to the fat content of pet food product originatesfrom protein-containing slaughter and fish industry offal ingredientssuch as lungs, throats, liver, fowl carcasses and fish carcasses. Thefat content of such raw materials may vary considerably. Thus, asexamples, the fat content of chicken carcasses as provided may varywithin the range of 8-35% by weight and the fat content of swine lungswithin the range of 3-9% by weight. It is generally not possible toremove this fat content mechanically.

In the context of the present invention, a low calorie meat productbeing a pet food is understood to mean a pet food in which lean meatsubstantially free from visible fat is protein-containing ingredientswhich have been selected to have a content of fat which when theingredients are added to the mixture in the above-defined proportionsresult in a low calorie pet food product having a fat content which isat the most 10% by weight, preferably at the most 7% by weight, morepreferably at the most 5% by weight, still more preferably at the most4% by weight, even more preferably at the most 3% by weight, mostpreferably at the most 2% by weight and in particular at the most 1.5%by weight.

Process of preparing low calorie meat products

In a further aspect the present invention relates to a process ofpreparing a low calorie meat product, said process essentiallycomprising:

1) preparing a mixture by mixing comminuted lean meat substantially freefrom visible fat; a vegetable fat replacement ingredient comprisingdietary fiber and starch in a weight ratio which is in the range of 1:32to 1:1, the proportion of the dietary fiber being at least 5% by weightof the vegetable fat replacement ingredient dry matter when determinedas non-starch polysaccharides (NPS), and the proportion of the starchbeing at least 50% of the fat replacement ingredient dry matter, whichfat replacement ingredient is capable of having or being brought into ahomogeneous consistency essentially without sensory recognizableparticles, said ingredient being miscible with the other ingredients;optionally added salt; and optionally added water, in which mixture:

(a) the proportion of comminuted lean meat substantially free fromvisible fat is in the range of 20-95% by weight,

(b) the proportion of the vegetable fat replacement ingredient is in therange of 5-80% by weight,

(c) the proportion of added water when added is in the range of 10-50%by weight,

(d) the proportion of added salt when added is in the range of 0.1-4% byweight,

the mixing, when the low calorie meat product to be prepared is aspreadable meat product, being carried out in the following steps:

(i) mixing a vegetable oil, the amount hereof being in the range of0.5-3%, calculated on the coherent mixture, water having a temperatureof at least 50° C. and a protein powder to obtain a first pre-mixture inthe form of an emulsion,

(ii) adding to said emulsion lean meat substantially without visiblefat, vegetable fat replacement ingredient, added salt, and added water,the total proportion of the added ingredients being at least 95% byweight of the ingredients from (i) and (ii),

(iii) mixing the ingredients from (i) and (ii) in such a way that asecond pre-mixture is obtained, said second pre-mixture comprisingevenly distributed coarse particles of meat and fat replacementingredient having on average a largest diameter of at least 5 mm, and

if necessary grinding the resulting second pre-mixture by passing themixture through a high speed grinder, to obtain the mixture,

2) optionally adding to the mixture one or more further ingredients,whereby a meat product mixture results, in which the proportion offurther ingredients is in the range of 1-15% by weight, preferably inthe range of 2-12% by weight and in particular in the range of 3-10% byweight,

3) distributing the resulting meat product mixture into suitably sizedpackagings, and

4) optionally subjecting the meat product mixture to a preservationand/or a cooking treatment prior to or subsequent to its distributioninto suitably sized packagings, to obtain a low calorie meat producthaving a fat content which is at the most 15% by weight, when theproduct is a hamburger product, the content of fat being at the most 10%by weight when the product is not a hamburger product, with the provisothat (i) the fat when the product is a product wherein the lean meat isfish meat does not comprise hardened fat and (ii) the dietary fiber isnot konjak mannan.

As defined above, the invention in one aspect provides a low caloriemeat product wherein the mixture is a coherent forcemeat mixture.Accordingly, the invention also provides a process for preparing acoherent forcemeat mixture, said process comprising:

1) preparing a coherent forcemeat mixture by mixing comminuted lean meatsubstantially free from visible fat; a vegetable fat replacementingredient comprising dietary fiber and starch in a weight ratio whichis in the range of 1:32 to 1:1, the proportion of the dietary fiberbeing at least 5% by weight of the vegetable fat replacement ingredientdry matter when determined as non-starch polysaccharides (NPS), and theproportion of the starch being at least 50% of the fat replacementingredient dry matter, which fat replacement ingredient is capable ofhaving or being brought into a homogeneous consistency essentiallywithout sensory recognizable particles, said ingredient being misciblewith the other ingredients; added salt; and added water, in whichcoherent forcemeat mixture:

(a) the proportion of comminuted lean meat substantially free fromvisible fat is in the range of 20-90% by weight,

(b) the proportion of the vegetable fat replacement ingredient is in therange of 5-80% by weight,

(c) the proportion of added water is in the range of 10-50% by weight,

(d) the proportion of added salt is in the range of 0.1-4% by weight,

the mixing, when the low calorie meat product to be prepared is aspreadable meat product, being carried out in the following steps:

(i) mixing a vegetable oil, the amount hereof being in the range of0.5-3%, calculated on the coherent mixture, water having a temperatureof at least 50° C. and a protein powder to obtain a first pre-mixture inthe form of an emulsion,

(ii) adding to said emulsion lean meat substantially without visiblefat, vegetable fat replacement ingredient, added salt, and added water,the total proportion of the added ingredients being at least 95% byweight of the ingredients from (i) and (ii),

(iii) mixing the ingredients from (i) and (ii) in such a way that asecond pre-mixture is obtained, said second pre-mixture comprisingevenly distributed coarse particles of meat and fat replacementingredient having on average a largest diameter of at least 5 mm, and

if necessary grinding the resulting second pre-mixture by passing themixture through a high speed grinder, to obtain the coherent force-meatmixture,

2) optionally adding to the coherent forcemeat mixture one or morefurther ingredients, whereby a meat product mixture results, in whichthe proportion of further ingredients is in the range of 1-15% byweight, preferably in the range of 2-12% by weight and in particular inthe range of 3-10% by weight,

3) distributing the resulting meat product mixture into suitably sizedpackagings, and

4) optionally subjecting the meat product mixture to a preservationand/or a cooking treatment prior to or subsequent to its distributioninto suitably sized packagings, to obtain a low calorie meat producthaving a fat content which is less than 10% by weight.

When conventional meat products comprising a significant proportion offat is produced, the mixing of the ingredients results in the formationof a homogeneous and adequately stable fat-water-protein emulsion. Themain technological problems to be solved in the production of suchconventional high-fat meat products are the water absorption by the meatand other ingredients and the emulsification of fat in the mixture. Theabsorption of water is obtained by several mechanisms of which therelease of the native water binding muscular component myosin which takeplace when the meat is comminuted and cut in the presence of free waterand salt is one, and the direct addition of water binding ingredients isan other. Most commonly both mechanisms are used at the same time.Traditional water binding ingredients are phosphates, particularlypolyphosphates, cereal flours, or potato starch. To obtain stableemulsification in high-fat meat products it is necessary to add suitableemulsifying ingredients to the mixture even if the native protein of themeat will contribute to some extent. Added emulsifiers may be selectedfrom a large group of chemical additives. However, their addition tomeat products is subject to strict food law requirements and theirpresence in meat products are objected to by large groups of consumers.Natural emulsifying ingredients commonly used in the production of meatproducts belong to the group of proteins which may be of animal originsuch as milk proteins in the form of milk powder or caseinates, or maybe of vegetable origin, such as e.g. soy protein.

However, these technological processes applied in the industrialproduction of traditional high-fat meat products are not immediatelyapplicable in the preparation of meat products having a low fat contentas those provided herein. The composition of the coherent mixture asdefined above differs from a high-fat meat product mixture in severalimportant respects: The fat content is so low that the mixture does notconstitute a fat-water-protein emulsion, the total water content may besignificantly higher as a result of the replacement of fat having a highdry matter content by a fat replacement ingredient with a relatively lowdry matter content. It will be understood that the latter problem isparticularly pronounced in products where a high proportion of fat isreplaced with the vegetable fat replacement ingredient. When developingthe process of preparing the low calorie meat products the presentinventors were therefore confronted with a number of technologicalproblems in order to provide the coherent mixture as defined above, thesolution whereto could not be found in the current high-fat meat producttechnology.

In accordance with the process of the present invention these problemshave been solved in a way that simultaneously provides severaladvantages including the possibility to eliminate or reduce theadditions of technological auxiliary ingredients. Thus, by reducing theproportion of fat to the hereinbefore defined low levels there is acorrespondingly reduction of the need for adding emulsifying ingredientsor anti-oxidants to the mixture. In addition, the water binding capacityof the vegetable dietary fiber and starch-containing fat replacementingredient is so high that the need to incorporate further water bindingingredients as defined above, is significantly reduced or eveneliminated. A further aspect of the present invention is that the lowcontent of fat in the meat products prepared according to the inventionpermits a reduced content of seasoning agents and spices withoutaffecting the desired flavour associated with traditionally preparedhigh-fat meat products. This is economically and hygienicallyadvantageous, since these ingredients are relatively high-priced andfrequently contaminated with large numbers of microorganisms, e.g.sporeforming bacteria which are difficult to eliminate. Finally, thehigh water binding capacity of the preferred fat replacement ingredientsimplies the possibility to reduce the content of salt to levelsconsiderably lower than those of conventional high-fat meat products. Inthe latter products the content of salt is generally within a range of2-5 weight percent, whereas in the products prepared according to thepresent invention it is preferably within the range of 1-2%.

It will be understood that the precise ingredient formulation and theexact technological procedure can be varied in numerous ways withoutdeparting from the scope of the invention. From a technological andconsumer point of view meat products may be categorized e.g. as sausageproducts; sliceable meat products such as saveloy; spreadable productsbeing defined as products having a creamy consistency which can readilybe distributed as a continuous layer on e.g. bread by means of a knifeincluding as examples liver pastes, meat pastes, meat spreads and pates;and hamburgers.

Each of these product categories has characteristic common featureswhich results from the particular ingredient compositions and the way inwhich specific process steps are carried out. As one example, it may beaimed at providing sausages having a texture which provides a feeling of"resistance" when chewed. In such products the step of preparing thecoherent mixture is carried out in such a way that the resulting mixturecontains particles of a size which makes them sensory recognizable suchas more than 0.5 mm. In high-fat sausage formulation this resistance isfrequently obtained by the incorporation of fat-containing rind or otherstructurizing tissues such as chicken skin. The present inventors haveachieved the same texture in low calorie sausages by adjusting thedegree of grinding during mixing to obtain meat particles of the abovedefined size and/or the addition of suitable structurizing agents suchas granulated proteins.

It is an interesting feature of low calorie spreadable meat productsprepared according to the present invention that the consistency andthereby the spreadability hereof is substantially unaffected by lowstorage temperatures. It is contemplated that this advantageous featureprimarily is a result of the low fat content of the products. Incontrast high-fat spreadable meat products tend to become stiff andthereby less spreadable when kept cool due to hardening of the fat.

In processes of preparing traditional high-fat meat products it israther critical that the temperature during mixing of the ingredients iskept low, preferably within the range of 0-10° C. in order to obtain astable fat-water-protein emulsion. To keep the temperature within thisrange it may be necessary to add ice during mixing. However, the presentinventors have found that a low calorie coherent mixture as definedabove can be obtained without the necessity of taking particularprecautions to keep the temperature within the rather narrow rangereferred to above. Thus, a suitable coherent mixture can be obtained atmixing temperatures within the range of 0°-25° C.

In particular embodiments of the invention the process may comprise theaddition to the coherent mixture of one or more further ingredientsselected from the following groups of ingredients: cooked or uncookedvegetables having sensory recognizable particles, water binding agents,structurizing agents, preservatives, flavouring agents, spices, meatextenders, flavour enhancing agents, sweetening agents, colouringagents, vitamins, smoke, and curing agents, whereby a meat productmixture results in which the proportion of additional ingredients is inthe range of 1-15% by weight, preferably 2-12% by weight, in particular4-10% by weight.

Vegetables are included in a number of meat products as a source ofnutrition or as flavouring ingredients, e.g. in certain types ofsausages, meat pies, fish pies or meat loaves. Any suitable vegetable ormixtures of several vegetables may be used. When needed or desired,ingredients having favorable water binding characteristics such ascereal flours, polyphosphates, gelling agents including carrageenan, orstarch may be added. The choice of flavouring agent(s) and/or spiceswill depend on the specific product type and the taste preferences ofthe consumers. As examples, but not limited thereto, flavouring agentsmay be selected from onions, garlic, celery, parsley, or paprika andspices from pepper, sage, ginger, thyme or mace. Other additionalingredients which may be added as desired are meat extenders (such ascereals, cereal derivatives, textured vegetable proteins, milkderivatives); flavour enhancing agents (such as MSG, hydrolyzedplant/vegetable protein, autolyzed yeast extract); sweetening agentsincluding natural or artificial sugars, dextrose, synthetic sweetenerssuch as cyclamates; colouring agents such as natural and synthetic dyes;vitamins; smoke; and curing agents such as sodium nitrite. Suitablepreservatives include chemical preservatives such as benzoic acid andsorbic acid and bacterial cultures which when added to the coherentmixture produce organic acids such as lactic acid or acetic acid.

In particular low calorie meat products it may be desirable to addfurther animal tissue ingredients to the mixture as flavouring agents.As an example, the addition of liver to a sausage or a meat pie may bedesirable in order to obtain a particularly desired taste and flavour.

The resulting meat product mixture may be distributed into suitablysized packagings. Such suitable packagings are similar to packagingsused for conventionally prepared meat products, and the selection of themost preferred packaging for a particular product according to theinvention will be based on general criteria known in the art.

The process may optionally, when desirable, include a preservationtreatment of the resulting meat product mixture prior to or subsequentto its distribution into packagings, said treatment resulting in anextension of the shelf-life of the product mixture or product relativeto non-preserved product mixtures or products. The preservationtreatment includes heat treatment processes, freezing, canning,irradiation, or smoke-curing. These treatments may be carried outaccording to procedures conventionally used in the food industry. Insome cases the preservation treatment results in a ready-to-eat product,whereas in other cases the resulting preserved product must be subjectedto a further cooking process such as immersion in boiling water, frying,grilling, baking, and treatment in a microwave oven, prior to beingconsumed.

In a particular embodiment the invention provides low calorie meatproducts in which the total proportion of fat is less than 10% by weightand which have essentially the same taste, texture,.water bindingcapacity, and appearance as similar conventionally prepared high-fatmeat products and which have been prepared according to a processessentially similar to the process of the invention as defined above.

Since the process as described hereinbefore is suitable for thepreparation of a broad range of low calorie meat product types havingessentially the same or better sensory and technological characteristicsas similar conventional high-fat meat product types, the low-fat meatproducts of the invention include any meat product type for which it isdesirable to obtain a low calorie substitute for the conventionalhigh-fat meat product type. Examples of such low calorie meat productsare: sausages, pastes, meat patties, luncheon meats, meat loaves, creamsof fish, fish cakes, hamburger patties, meat pies and meat balls. Itwill, however, be understood that other product types may be preparedwithout departing from the scope and the idea of the invention.

The process of preparing as defined herein results in low calorie meatproducts having essentially the same characteristics as conventionalhigh-fat product types with respect to taste, texture, water bindingcapacity, and appearance. As it has been explained in details above, thebasic composition of the products prepared as defined, when comparedwith products having a high fat content, implies several nutritionaladvantages such as lower content of metabolizable energy, reducedcontent of fat, including cholesterol, optionally reduced levels of saltand other additives, e.g. water binding agents or emulsifying agents. Ahigh water binding activity is one significant factor determining thecooking yield which is defined as the difference in weight betweenuncooked and cooked product. During cooking of conventional high-fatmeat products there may be losses of water, protein, and of fat, theextent of which depends on the stability of the protein-fat-wateremulsion. In the products according to the invention there will bepractically no loss of fat, due to the low content thereof. It hasfurthermore been shown that the losses of water and protein in the formof "meat jelly" are similar to or even smaller than what is found forconventional high-fat meat products also when the addition of waterbinding agents are reduced or omitted. The high water binding capacityis also reflected in a high degree of stability to repeated freezing andthawing events, stability in this context meaning that the texturalcharacteristics of the products remain unchanged and that there is nosignificant dripping of water.

Process of preparing low calorie spreadable meat products

It has been found that the processes of preparing low caloriesausage-type meat products, sliceable products and hamburgers as definedabove were not immediately applicable in the preparation of spreadablelow calorie meat products such as liver paste, especially when suchspreadable products comprise an edible oil. It was found, however, thatthe incorporation in low calorie spreadable meat products of an edibleoil, the amount hereof being in the range of 0.5-5% by weight,calculated on the products, aids significantly in obtaining a desiredspreadability.

When attempting to prepare low calorie spreadable meat productscomprising an edible oil according to such processes, a coherent mixtureas defined above was not regularly obtained. However, by carrying outfurther experimentation it was e.g. found that a coherent mixture forliver paste can be obtained when the process is carried out in thefollowing steps: (1) mixing of a small amount of edible oil, boilingwater and a caseinate to obtain a stable, smooth emulsion, (2) addingthe liver as whole livers, a native non-fractionated plant materialvegetable fat replacement ingredient without any preceding comminutionand optionally additional ingredients and mixing these ingredients in avessel having a rotating propeller at the bottom, the rotation of whichresulted in the liver and the vegetable fat replacement ingredient beingdivided into coarse particles which were evenly distributed in theemulsion from step (1), (3) grinding the mixture resulting from step (2)by passing the mixture through a high speed grinder attached to thebottom outlet of the mixing vessel, the passage through the grinderbeing effected by applying vacuum to the vessel having a rotatingpropeller at the bottom, followed by transferring the resulting groundedcoherent low calorie liver paste mixture to a filling apparatus, fillingthe mixture into suitable containers and baking the liver paste. It isenvisaged that this process will also be useful for the preparation ofother spreadable low calorie meat products.

Thus, the vegetable fat replacement ingredient having the above definedcomposition and characteristics is a suitable vegetable ingredient inthe preparation of spreadable meat products according to the invention,the addition of the vegetable ingredient in the below defined amountsresulting in spreadable meat products having desired sensory andstructural qualities including the absence of a tendency that the lipidscontained in the products separate, and a desirable spreadability.

In the present context, the term "spreadable meat product" designates anedible meat-containing product basically having a creamy consistencywhich can be readily distributed as a continuous layer on e.g. bread bymeans of a knife. Examples of spreadable meat products are meat pastesincluding liver paste, meat spreads and pates. It will be understoodthat the spreadable meat products basically having a creamy consistencymay contain pieces of larger sizes such as it is conventional in certaintypes of pastes and pates.

There are several widely varying methods of producing spreadable meatproducts in private households, and it has also been suggested toprepare Danish liver paste (a spreadable product) from the followingrecipe

500 g of pork liver

200 g of boiled potatoes

1 onion

0.4 liter of milk

1 egg and 2 egg whites

salt and pepper

by mincing the liver, the potatoes and the onion twice through a meatmincing machine and adding the salt and pepper, the eggs (whipped) andthe milk with stirring and then baking the resulting mixture for about 1hour at 170° C. However, the industrial production of spreadable meatproducts requires a certain standardization and simplification of boththe processes and the variety of ingredients included (eggs are normallynot desired as ingredients thereof), and the cost of the individualingredients and of the production stages is also of decisive importance.In practice, the spreadability of industrially produced spreadable meatproducts is often dependent on the presence of a certain amount of anedible oil. The industrially conventional manner of producing spreadablemeat products is to carry out a mixing of the various ingredients, suchas edible oil, water, starch, meat, etc., if necessary grinding theresulting mixture and subjecting the mixture to a subsequentpreservation or cooking treatment such as baking.

However, in accordance with what is mentioned above, this traditionalmethod does not always result in a satisfactory quality of the finishedspreadable meat products regarding physical structure and sensorycharacteristics, one disadvantage being that the edible oil or theanimal fat originating from the meat as defined above have a tendency toseparate or leach from the resulting spreadable meat product resultingin the collection of the oil and/or animal fat on the surface of theproduct.

According to the present aspect of the invention, low calorie spreadablemeat products which do not have the above disadvantageouscharacteristics may be prepared in a very desirable and economic mannerwhen a vegetable ingredient as defined above is incorporated, and themixing is performed in two stages, with an initial formation of anemulsion of the edible oil, water and a protein component, and asubsequent mixing of this emulsion with the meat, a vegetable ingredientas defined below, additional water, salt, and optionally otheringredients such as will be explained below.

By performing the process in this manner, an effective incorporation ofthe edible oil is obtained so that it will exert its ability to conferspreadability substantially without any tendency to leaching orseparation of the edible oil, and a very economic process is obtainedwhich leads to a sensory highly attractive product.

Thus, in this aspect the present invention can be defined in greaterdetail as a process for preparing a spreadable low calorie meat product,said process comprising the following steps:

(1) mixing an edible oil, water having a temperature of at least 50° C.,and a protein powder having a water content of at the most 20% byweight, calculated on the protein powder, to obtain a first mixture inthe form of an emulsion,

(2) mixing the emulsion of step (1) with

lean meat substantially free from visible fat, the proportion hereofbeing in the range of 20-90% by weight, calculated on the product,

a vegetable fat replacement ingredient comprising dietary fiber andstarch in a weight ratio which is in the range of 1:32 to 1:1, theproportion of the dietary fiber being at least 5% by weight of thevegetable ingredient dry matter when determined as non-starchpolysaccharides (NPS), and the proportion of the starch being at least50% by weight of the vegetable ingredient dry matter, which vegetableingredient is an ingredient which is capable of having, or being broughtinto a homogeneous consistency essentially without sensory recognizableparticles in the spreadable meat product, the amount of said ingredientbeing in the range of 5-80% by weight, calculated on the product,

water, the proportion hereof being in the range of 10-50% by weight,calculated on the product,

salt, the proportion hereof being in the range of 0-4% by weight,calculated on the product

and optionally one or more additional ingredients, the total proportionhereof being in the range of 1-15% by weight, calculated on the product,the emulsion of step (1) comprising at the most 5% by weight of theresulting mixture,

and if necessary grinding the resulting mixture

to obtain a mixture comprising substantially evenly distributedparticles of meat and vegetable ingredients, in which mixture theparticles of meat have a largest diameter of at the most 1 cm,

(3) optionally mixing further additional ingredients into the mixtureresulting from step (2)

(4) optionally distributing the resulting mixture into suitably sizedpackagings, and

(5) optionally subjecting the resulting mixture distributed intopackagings, to a preservation and/or a cooking treatment.

In JP Appl. No. 63-990 it has been suggested to use an emulsifiedcomposition containing edible fats and oils as a replacement ingredientfor fat and oils in the preparation of a paste product comprisinglow-fat meat, the proportion of the emulsified composition being in therange of 5-15% by weight of the product. In the context of the presentinvention it is, however, important to note that the emulsion of step(1) is not added as a fat replacement ingredient but as a means ofobtaining a desired spreadability. This effect is obtained when theproportion of the emulsion according to the present invention is addedin proportions which are at the most 5% by weight of the product, apreferred proportion being in the range of 2-4% by weight. Adding higherproportions than the above-defined would be disadvantageous since itwould add significantly to the calorie content of the low calorie meatproducts according to the invention.

As the edible oil may be used any ester of fatty acids including animalfat and vegetable fat and oils which is liquid at ambient temperaturesnormally found in meat processing plants, i.e. typically in the range of10°-20° C., such as a vegetable oil including sunflower oil, soy oil,olive oil, or grape kernel oil or an animal lipid having a melting pointat or below the above defined ambient temperatures. Depending on thedesired total lipid content of the spreadable meat products to beprepared the amount of added vegetable oil may preferably be in therange of 0.8-3% by weight calculated on the product and more preferablyin the range of 1-2% by weight.

To obtain a useful emulsion in step (1) it is advantageous to add waterat a temperature not less than 50° C., the preferred water temperaturebeing in the range of 70°-100° C. When a pre-cooked vegetable ingredientis used in step (2) the water added in step (1) and in step (2) mayadvantageously be the pot liquor in which the vegetable ingredient hasbeen pre-cooked. In a preferred embodiment of the invention the amountof water being added in step (1) is in the range of 1-3% by weight,calculated on the product. The amount of water which is added in step(1) is preferably is in the range of 1-3% by weight, calculated on theproduct.

Protein powders which are useful in step (1) may be any food-grade drypowder of animal or vegetable protein such as caseinates, globins, soyprotein, or pea protein, an essential requirement for such compositions,however, being that the taste and flavour hereof when added in thehighest amounts as indicated above does not confer an unacceptable tasteand flavour to the spreadable meat product. In a preferred embodiment ofthe invention caseinate is used. The amount of the protein powder havinga water content less than 20% by weight which is added in step (1) ispreferably in the range of 0.2-2% by weight, calculated on the productand more preferably in the range of 0.3-1% by weight, calculated on themixture.

In other low calorie meat products than spreadable meat products, it isnormally preferred that the lean meat essentially free from visible fatis comminuted prior to preparing the coherent mixture, the meat used inthe preparation of the spreadable low calorie meat product may be addedto be mixed with the emulsion of step (1) in the form of pieces orlumps. Such meat pieces or lumps are normally provided in the meatindustry when specific cuttings of meat is trimmed. Typically such meattrimmings have a largest diameter in the range of 5-15 cm. Furthermore,a piece of meat in the present context may be a whole piece of edibleoffal such as a whole liver or a whole kidney.

In step (2) of the process for preparing a spreadable low calorie meatproduct according to the present invention the emulsion from step (1)and the meat, vegetable ingredient, additional water, salt andoptionally one or more further ingredients is mixed and if necessary theresulting mixture is ground to obtain a mixture comprising substantiallyevenly distributed particles of meat and vegetable ingredients, in whichmixture the particles of meat have a largest diameter of at the most 1cm.

In a particular embodiment of the process such a mixing is obtained bypreparing the emulsion in a cylindrical milling vessel having aconically shaped bottom part provided with a rotating two-bladedpropeller with blunt edges and subsequently mixing the emulsion with themeat and the vegetable ingredient as whole meat lumps such as whole porklivers or whole vegetables such as whole boiled potatoes, additionalwater, salt and optionally one or more additional ingredients. Therotation of the propeller results in a partial comminution of the meatand/or the vegetable ingredient into coarse particles of the abovedefined size.

The above resulting mixture may if desirable be further comminuted bygrinding which in one preferred embodiment is carried out by passing theresulting mixture through a suitable grinding apparatus to obtain a morefinely comminuted spreadable meat product mixture. In one particularembodiment of the invention the spreadable low calorie meat productmixture is passed through a high speed grinder having a plate with 3 mmopenings which grinder is attached to the conical bottom part of thecylindrical vessel, the passage being effected by applying vacuum to thegrinder attached to the vessel. It will be understood that grinding intofiner particles may be obtained by selecting a grinding apparatus havinga plate with openings having a diameter less than 3 mm.

Optionally, further ingredients selected from the group as definedhereinbefore may be added to the above spreadable meat product mixtureto obtain particular mixtures for specific types of spreadable meatproducts.

In further optional subsequent steps, the spreadable low calorie meatproduct mixture may be distributed into suitable sized packagings asdefined hereinbefore and subjected to a preservation and/or a cookingtreatment selected from the treatment defined hereinbefore.

In a further aspect, the present invention relates to a spreadable meatproduct prepared according to the process as defined above. A typicalexample of such products is meat paste including liver paste. In thepresent context a spreadable meat paste product is understood to mean aspreadable meat product having a paste-like consistency and notcontaining visually recognizable particles. Meat paste products maycontain any type of meat originating from edible mammals, poultry orfish including liver. Spreadable non-liver meat products are frequentlyreferred to as meat "spreads". Further interesting examples ofspreadable meat products are so-called pates, which term is generallyused to describe spreadable meat products which as a basis comprises apaste-like spreadable meat product mixture whereto one or moreparticulate further additional ingredients, typically having a particlesize in the range of 0.5-10 mm have been added and which particles inthe final spreadable pate may be visually recognizable. Examples of suchparticulate further additional ingredients are comminuted vegetables,comminuted meat and comminuted fruits including nuts.

In a further embodiment of the invention there is provided a process forpreparing a low calorie meat product wherein the resulting product is apet food and according to which process the lean meat added to themixture in the above-defined proportions results in a low calorie petfood product having a fat content which is at the most 10% by weight,preferably at the most 7% by weight, more preferably at the most 5% byweight, still more preferably at the most 4% by weight, even morepreferably at the most 3% by weight, most preferably at the most 2% byweight and in particular at the most 1.5% by weight. The lean meatingredient is preferably selected from low cost slaughter and fishindustry offal such as blood, intestines, stomachs, genital organs, fowlor lean fish carcasses, or respiratory organs.

In a still further aspect, the present invention relates to a lowcalorie meat product as defined herein and prepared according to theprocesses as defined herein which product is a dried, rehydratableproduct having been dried by a drying process which does not result inany substantial coagulation of the meat protein, such as freeze-drying.

The machinery, equipment, and utensils which can be appropriatelyapplied in the herein defined process are the same as thoseconventionally used in the preparation of meat products and suchmachinery, equipment, and utensils are known per se by skilled personsin the art. In the below detailed Example 16 several details relating tosuitable machinery, equipment, and utensils are recited which may alsobe illustrative in relation to this aspect of the present invention.

The invention is further illustrated in the below examples.

EXAMPLE 1

Preparation of hot-dog sausages

For hot-dog sausages the following ingredient formulation was prepared:

    ______________________________________                                        Lean pork from which all visible fat had been removed                                                     7.000 kg                                          Peeled, cooked "Bintje" potatoes                                                                          3.000 kg                                          Wheat flour                 0.400 kg                                          Potato flour                0.400 kg                                          Icewater (3 kg crushed ice in 2 l water)                                                                  5.000 kg                                          Curing salt (0.56% sodium nitrite)                                                                        0.140 kg                                          Common salt                 0.140 kg                                          Dried skimmed milk          0.500 kg                                          Phosphate                   0.050 kg                                          Seasonings                  0.040 kg                                          ______________________________________                                    

The lean pork and the cooked, peeled potatoes were cooled to about 5° C.and ground separately through a 3 mm plate in a meat grinder. Four kg ofthe ground pork were transferred to a high-speed mixer and the meat wasfurther comminuted by operating the high-speed grinder during threeturns of the bowel followed by the addition of all the phosphate, halfof the combined curing salt and common salt, and half of the ice water.The operating of the high-speed grinder was then continued until themeat had taken up all of the water after which the skimmed milk powder,the wheat flour, and the potato flour were added together with theremaining half of the ice water. The high-speed grinder was operateduntil the last added ice water had been taken up by the mixture. Theremaining 3 kg of lean pork was added to the mixture and the grindingcontinued until the temperature in the mixture had increased to 10°-12°C.

Finally the seasoning ingredients (celery salt, white pepper, mace,paprika, and cardamom) were added together with the cooked potatoes. Thehigh-speed grinder was then operated until a forcemeat mixture had beenformed having a smooth coherent texture at which stage the internaltemperature was about 14°-16° C.

The resulting sausage mixture was then conveyed to a sausage filler andstuffed into casings. The stuffed sausages were subsequently dried andsmoke-cured at a temperature of 80° C. for about 30 minutes, followed bycooking in a water bath having a temperature of about 80° C., for about10 minutes. After cooling, the sausages were allowed to dry in air andpackaged in plastic foil bags which were evacuated.

In the resulting hot-dog sausages the ingredient composition were asfollows (w/w): lean pork 24.1%, cooked peeled potatoes 18.1%, ice water30.0%, dried skimmed milk powder 3.0%, wheat flour 2.4%, potato flour2.4%, flavourings and spices 0.23%, and salt (including sodium nitrite)1.7%. Accordingly, the base mixture ingredients (lean meat, added water,and fat replacement ingredient, i.e. cooked peeled potatoes) constitutedin total 91.9% and the additional ingredients 8.1%.

The overall energy content of the finished hot-dog sausages was 407 kJper 100 g. The distribution of the main energy-giving ingredients was asfollows (w/w %): protein 10.7, carbohydrates 9.0, and fat 1.9. Theindicated low fat content in the sausages according to the presentexample implies that the relative contribution of the fat content to theoverall energy content was only 18%.

The sausages were subjected to sensory testing by a consumer panelcomprising 42 randomly selected subjects who were asked to rate thetaste, the texture and the appearance of the low calorie hot-dogsausages against conventionally prepared hot-dog sausages in which nofat replacement ingredient was included and in which the meat was porkcuttings with a rather high fat content. The panel was instructed toassess each of the following characteristics: (a) taste, (b) texture,(c) appearance, and (d) general impression according to the followinghedonic scale: significantly inferior (1), inferior (2), slightlyinferior (3), same as reference sample (4), slightly better (5), better(6), and significantly better (7). The figures in parentheses indicatenumerical transformation values for the qualitative ratings which valueswere used in statistical analyses of differences. For these analysesmean scores and the standard error of means were calculated and the datasubjected to a Student's t-test.

The main composition of the control sausages was as follows: Energycontent 1180 kJ/100 g, protein 13% by weight, carbohydrates 3% byweight, and fat 24% by weight. Prior to the testing both types ofsausages were heated for a few minutes by immersing them in boilingwater to obtain an appropriate eating temperature.

The consumer test panel was not able to distinguish between the hot dogsausages prepared according to the invention and conventionally preparedhigh fat-containing hot dog sausages with respect to taste, texture, orappearance.

The test was repeated after the sausages had been frozen and thawed 3times. Even after this treatment there were no detectable differencesbetween the low calorie sausages and the high fat control sausagesregarding the above parameters. This indicates inter alia that the waterbinding capacity of the low fat hot dog sausage formulation isequivalent to that of a conventional high fat hot dog sausageformulation.

EXAMPLE 2

Preparation of grill sausages

For grill sausages the following ingredient formulation was prepared:

    ______________________________________                                        Lean pork from which all visible fat had been removed                                                     3.500 kg                                          Peeled, cooked "Bintje" potatoes                                                                          1.500 kg                                          Curing salt (0.56% sodium nitrite)                                                                        0.080 kg                                          Common salt                 0.050 kg                                          Icewater (1.4 kg crushes ice in 0.6 l water)                                                              2.000 kg                                          Dried skimmed milk          0.250 kg                                          Phosphate                   0.035 kg                                          White pepper                0.010 kg                                          Mace                        0.002 kg                                          Ginger                      0.002 kg                                          Coriander                   0.002 kg                                          ______________________________________                                    

The process of preparation was essentially the same as that described inExample 1. In the resulting grill sausages the ingredient compositionwere as follows: lean pork 47.1%, cooked peeled potatoes 20.2%, icewater 26.9%, dried skimmed milk powder 3.4%, salt including sodiumnitrite 1.8%, phosphate 0.5%, and flavourings and spices 0.22%.Accordingly, the base mixture ingredients comprised in total 96.0% andthe additional ingredients 4.0%.

The overall energy content of the finished grill sausages were 364 kJper 100 g. The distribution of the main energy-giving ingredients wereas follows (w/w %): protein 12.6, carbohydrates 6.0, and fat 1.4. Thusthe relative contribution of the fat content to the overall energycontent was only 14%.

The grill sausages were tested by a consumer panel as described inExample 1, and the test panel was not able to distinguish between thesausages prepared according to the invention and conventionally preparedgrill sausages having a high fat content neither when testingimmediately after the preparation nor after the sausages has been frozenand thawed three times.

EXAMPLE 3

Preparation of luncheon meat

A test batch of low calorie luncheon meat was prepared wherein theconventionally used ingredient pork fat abdominal trimmings had beenreplaced by cooked peeled potatoes. As a reference product a batch ofluncheon meat without cooked potatoes but containing fat trimmings wasprepared. The ingredient formulations were as listed below (allquantities listed are w/w %):

    ______________________________________                                                 Test batch   Reference batch                                         ______________________________________                                        Lean pork shank                                                                          9.000   kg (45.0%) 9.000 kg (45.0%)                                meat                                                                          Fat trimmings                                                                            --                 6.000 kg (30.0%)                                Cooked, peeled                                                                           6.000   kg (30.0%) --                                              potatoes                                                                      Curing salt                                                                              0.340   kg (1.7%)  0.300 kg (1.5%)                                 Common salt                                                                              0.240   kg (1.2%)                                                  Ice water  4.360   kg (21.8%) 4.154 kg (20.8%)                                Phosphate  0.100   kg (0.5%)  0.100 kg (0.5%)                                 Sugar      0.200   kg (1.0%)  0.200 kg (1.0%)                                 Na-ascorbate                                                                             --                 0.006 kg (0.03%)                                Total      20.000  kg (100.0%)                                                                              20.000                                                                              kg (100.0%)                               ______________________________________                                    

It appears from the above formulations that the low calorie test batchof luncheon meat contained only 1.7% curing salt whereas the referenceproduct had a total salt content of 2.7%. Furthermore the test batchcontained no antioxidant agent (Na-ascorbate). The omitted ingredientsin the test batch were replaced by the corresponding amount of water.

As a first step in the preparation of the luncheon meat batches the porkshank meat was cured for 24 hours by the addition of 180 g of curingsalt (2% by weight) followed by grinding through a plate having openingsof 5 mm. Half of the ground meat was transferred to a high speed mixerand the phosphate and the remaining salt was added. The resultingmixture was further comminuted by operating the mixer for 60 seconds at1400 rpm during which 1/4 of the ice water was added. After stop of themixer, the sugar and the ground cooked potatoes cooled to 5° C. (testbatch) or ground fat trimmings at 5° C. (reference batch) were addedafter which the mixer was operated at 2800 rpm for 60 seconds duringaddition of 2/4 of the ice water. Subsequently, the remaining half ofthe meat was added and the mixer operated at 2800 rpm for 120 secondswhile the remaining 1/4 of the ice water was added. All ingredients hadan initial temperature of 5° C. The final temperature of the resultingluncheon meat mixture was 14° C. This moderate temperature increase isobtained by using a mixture of ice and water.

The forcemeat mixture was conveyed to a filling machine from which themixture was filled into cans holding 450 g and having a diameter of 72mm. After sealing of the cans they were autoclaved for 70 minutes at apressure of 2.1 bars (121.6° C.) followed by cooling in cold water.

The resulting batches of canned luncheon meat were subjected to chemicalanalyses by methods known per se and the total energy contents and therelative contributions thereto of carbohydrates, protein and fat werecalculated on the basis of these analytical data:

                  TABLE 1                                                         ______________________________________                                        Compositions of luncheon meat batches (w/w %) and their                       energy contents                                                                         Test batch      Reference batch                                                   % of total         % of total                                             %   energy      %      energy                                       ______________________________________                                        Carbohydrates                                                                             5.4   21.6        1.2  1.9                                        Protein     9.3   39.4        11.8 20.2                                       Fat         4.3   39.0        21.3 77.9                                       Total energy, kJ                                                                          429               1065                                            per 100 g                                                                     ______________________________________                                    

The total energy content of the low calorie luncheon meat was only about40% of that of the reference product. In this latter meat product thehigh fat content contributed with 77.9% of the total energy content,whereas in the test product the fat content only contributed 39%.

The sensory quality of the low fat test luncheon meat relative to thatof the conventional reference product was tested as defined inExample 1. The results of the sensory assessments are summarized in thetable below:

                  TABLE 2                                                         ______________________________________                                        Sensory characteristics of low calorie canned luncheon meat                   comprising 30% by weight of peeled, cooked potatoes as                        compared to the characteristics of conventionally prepared                    canned luncheon meat containing 21.3% by weight of fat                                   N   Mean score SEM    Significance                                 ______________________________________                                        Taste        41    4.02       1.67 ns                                         Texture      41    3.85       1.46 ns                                         Appearance   41    3.51       1.43 *                                          General impression                                                                         41    3.93       1.42 ns                                         ______________________________________                                         N: Number of subjects in panel                                                SEM: Standard error of mean                                                   ns: Not statistically different                                               *p < 0.05                                                                     **p < 0.01                                                                    ***p < 0.001                                                             

In general, the sensory panelists assessed the quality of the testluncheon meat as similar to or slightly inferior to the referenceproduct. However, no statistically significant differences were found asregards taste, texture and the general impression.

As an indication of the emulsion stability of the luncheon meat mixturesthe release of meat jelly and fat after autoclaving of the cans weremeasured by thoroughly scraping off the separated layers of meat jellyand fat, respectively which had collected at the top after autoclaving,followed by weighing of these layers and calculating the proportionshereof relative to the total weight of the products. In the low calorieluncheon meat cans 4.2% by weight of meat jelly had collected and therewas no measurable fat release. However, in the reference product 8.3% byweight of meat jelly and 0.6% by weight of fat had collected. Based onthese data the emulsion stability of the low fat luncheon meat appearedto be superior to that of the conventional high fat reference product.This finding is surprising when it is taken into consideration that thesalt content of the test product is about 40% less herein than that ofthe reference luncheon meat product.

EXAMPLE 4

Preparation of beefburger patties

A test batch of low calorie beefburger patties and a reference batch ofpatties having a fat content of 20.5% were prepared. The ingredientformulations of the two batches were as shown below:

    ______________________________________                                                    Test patties                                                                             Reference patties                                      ______________________________________                                        Beef, 5% fat  13.794 kg (69.0%)                                                                          --                                                 Beef, 24% fat --           17.932 kg (89.7%)                                  Cooked, peeled potatoes                                                                      4.138 kg (20.7%)                                                                          --                                                 Water/ice      2.068 kg (10.3%)                                                                           2.068 kg (10.3%)                                  ______________________________________                                    

The beef and the cooked potatoes, both ingredients at a temperature of5° C., were ground separately through a plate having 3 mm openings. Forthe preparation of low calorie patties, the ground low fat beef and theground cooked potatoes were mixed in a meat blender at 20 rpm for 5minutes during which step the water with melting ice was added. Thetemperature after mixing was about -4° C. Patties (82-85 g) were formedon a Formax patty former and subsequently frozen and packaged in acardboard box.

The resulting batches of hamburger patties were subjected to chemicalanalyses for their content of carbohydrates, protein and fat by methodsknown per se and the total energy contents and the relative contributionthereto of carbohydrates, protein and fat were calculated on the basisof these analytical data:

                  TABLE 3                                                         ______________________________________                                        Compositions (w/w %) of hamburger patty batches and their                     energy content                                                                          Test batch      Reference batch                                                    % of total        % of total                                             %    energy     %      energy                                       ______________________________________                                        Carbohydrates                                                                             2.3    8.0        0.6  0.9                                        Protein     15.6   57.9       16.0 26.5                                       Fat         4.3    34.1       20.5 72.6                                       Total energy, kJ                                                                          491               1099                                            per 100 g                                                                     ______________________________________                                    

The total content of energy was reduced in the low calorie patties ascompared to the conventional reference product by about 55%.Furthermore, the contribution of fat to the total energy content in thetest batch of patties was only 34.1% whereas the corresponding value inthe reference product was as high as 72.6%.

The beefburger patties were thawed at room temperature and subsequentlyfried in a conventional manner on a saucepan until they were thoroughlydone prior to testing of the sensory quality by a consumer test panelessentially according to the procedure described hereinbefore. Theresults of the sensory assessments were as summarized below:

                  TABLE 4                                                         ______________________________________                                        Sensory characteristics of low calorie beef hamburger patties                 comprising 20.7% by weight of peeled, cooked potatoes as                      compared to the characteristics of conventionally prepared                    hamburger patties containing 20.5% fat                                                   N   Mean score SEM    Significance                                 ______________________________________                                        Taste        41    5.15       1.54 ***                                        Texture      41    5.15       1.39 ***                                        Appearance   41    5.00       1.15 ***                                        General impression                                                                         40    4.88       1.38 ***                                        ______________________________________                                         N: Number of subjects in panel                                                SEM: Standard error of mean                                                   ns: Not statistically different                                               *p < 0.05                                                                     **p < 0.01                                                                    ***p < 0.001                                                             

Overall, the low calorie beefburger patties were rated by the test panelas being slightly better than the conventional reference product for allsensory characteristics assessed. All the differences found werestatistically significant at a 0.1% level.

EXAMPLE 5

Preparation of a low calorie chicken pie

A test batch of a low calorie chicken pie comprising 24.4% cooked peeledpotatoes was prepared. The characteristics of this meat product wascompared with those of a conventional reference batch of chicken piecontaining about 22% by weight of fat. The ingredient formulations forthe two batches of chicken pie were as shown below:

    ______________________________________                                                   Test batch  Reference batch                                        ______________________________________                                        Chicken meat, cooked                                                                       4.522   kg (22.6%)                                                                              4.262 kg (21.3%)                               Chicken skin 3.130   kg (15.7%)                                                                              3.130 kg (15.7%)                               Cooked, peeled                                                                             4.870   kg (24.4%)                                                                              --                                             potatoes                                                                      Pork fat trimmings                                                                         --                4.870 kg (24.4%)                               Pork shank meat                                                                            2.782   kg (13.9%)                                                                              2.782 kg (13.9%)                               Boiling water                                                                              3.478   kg (17.4%)                                                                              3.478 kg (17.4%)                               Skimmed milk powder                                                                        0.348   kg (1.7%) 0.348 kg (1.7%)                                Common salt  0.244   kg (1.2%) 0.400 kg (2.0%)                                Dried onions 0.052   kg (0.3%) 0.100 kg (0.5%)                                Glucose      0.034   kg (0.2%) 0.034 kg (0.2%)                                Madeira      0.348   kg (1.7%) 0.348 kg (1.7%)                                Olives       0.112   kg (0.6%) 0.112 kg (0.6%)                                White pepper 0.010   kg (0.05%)                                                                              0.016 kg (0.08%)                               Maritza spice mixture                                                                      0.070   kg (0.4%) 0.120 kg (0.6%)                                Total        20.000  kg (100%) 20.000                                                                              kg (100%)                                ______________________________________                                    

As it appears, the amounts of salt and spices were significantly reducedin the low calorie chicken pie formulation.

The low calorie chicken pie batch was prepared by the following method:The pork shank meat was ground through plate having 3 mm openings. Thechicken skin and the peeled potatoes were boiled for 20 minutesimmediately prior to use and transferred while still hot to a pre-warmedhigh-speed grinder. After addition of the following ingredients: driedskimmed milk, common salt, dried onions, glucose, madeira and whitepepper the grinder was operated during two turns of its bowel while theknife was run at 2800 rpm. Following this operation the boiling waterwas added and the grinder further operated for about 80 seconds. As thenext step the ground shank meat, the olives and the maritza spicemixture were added to the resulting mixture followed by operating thehigh-speed grinder at 2800 rpm during 5 turns of the bowel. Theresulting pie mixture having reached a temperature of about 50° C. wasdistributed into aluminium foil trays each holding 200 g. Finally, thefilled trays were baked while placed in a water bath at 180° C. forabout 45 minutes followed by cooling at 5° C.

The reference batch was prepared in essentially the same manner, theground boiled potatoes, however being replaced by the same amount ofsimilarly ground fat trimmings.

The resulting chicken pie batches were analyzed by methods known per sefor their contents of the main energy-giving ingredients, i.e.carbohydrates, protein and fat. The total energy contents of the batchesand the relative contributions thereto of carbohydrates, protein and fatwere calculated according to these analytical data.

The resulting figures are summarized below:

                  TABLE 5                                                         ______________________________________                                        Compositions of chicken pie batches (w/w %) and their energy                  content                                                                                 Test batch      Reference batch                                                    % of total        % of total                                             %    energy     %      energy                                       ______________________________________                                        Carbohydrates                                                                             5.7    14.7       1.9  2.7                                        Protein     15.1   41.0       16.1 24.9                                       Fat         7.6    44.3       21.9 72.4                                       Total energy, kJ                                                                          670               1178                                            per 100 g                                                                     ______________________________________                                    

The total energy content of the chicken pie batch wherein the pork fattrimmings had been replaced by an equal amount of cooked potatoes wasreduced by about 43% relative to the reference pie batch.

The baked low calorie chicken pie test batch and reference batch weresubjected to testing of their sensory quality according to the proceduredescribed hereinbefore. The results of these sensory ratings aresummarized in Table 6 below:

                  TABLE 6                                                         ______________________________________                                        Sensory characteristics of low calorie chicken pie containing                 24.4% by weight of peeled, cooked potatoes as compared to the                 characteristics of conventionally prepared chicken pie                        containing 21.9% by weight of fat                                                        N   Mean score SEM    Significance                                 ______________________________________                                        Taste        41    4.93       1.54 ***                                        Texture      41    4.61       1.67 *                                          Appearance   41    4.68       1.22 ***                                        General impression                                                                         41    4.85       1.39 ***                                        ______________________________________                                         N: Number of subjects in panel                                                SEM: Standard error of mean                                                   ns: Not statistically different                                               p < 0.05                                                                      p < 0.01                                                                      p < 0.001                                                                

For all the sensory characteristics tested by the panel the low caloriechicken pie was rated better than the reference chicken pie. Thedifferences identified were all statistically significant.

EXAMPLE 6

Preparation of fish cake balls

A low calorie test batch and a conventional reference batch of fish cakeballs having the below ingredient formulations were prepared:

    ______________________________________                                                   Test batch  Reference batch                                        ______________________________________                                        Fillet of cod                                                                              11.704  kg (58.5%)                                                                              11.852                                                                              kg (59.3%)                               Lard         --                4.000 kg (20.0%)                               Cooked, peeled                                                                             3.902   kg (19.5%)                                                                              --                                             potatoes                                                                      Breadcrumbs  1.114   kg (5.6%) 1.008 kg (5.0%)                                Whole-egg    1.338   kg (6.7%) 1.136 kg (5.7%)                                Mineral water                                                                              1.114   kg (5.6%) 1.104 kg (5.5%)                                Wheat flour  0.490   kg (2.5%) 0.490 kg (2.5%)                                Common salt  0.304   kg (1.5%) 0.342 kg (1.7%)                                White pepper 0.036   kg (0.2%) 0.068 kg (0.3%)                                ______________________________________                                    

The two batches of fish cake balls were prepared by the followingprocedure: Cod fillets and peeled, cooked potatoes cooled to about 4° C.were ground separately through a plate having 3 mm openings. The groundcod fillets were transferred to a high-speed grinder together with thebreadcrumbs, salt and pepper. The high-speed grinder was operated at2800 rpm during five turns of its bowel. After stopping the grinderwhole eggs were added followed by operating the grinder at 2800 rpm for30 seconds. Subsequently, the grinder was operated at low speed (1400rpm) for 30 seconds during which the mineral water was added whereafterthe grinder was operated for a further period of 30 seconds at 2800 rpmand stopped. Finally, the ground cooked potatoes were added to theresulting mixture and the grinder was operated at 2800 rpm for 60seconds. The resulting fish cake mixture which had a final temperatureof 4° C. was transferred to a patty former and formed herein to fishcake balls which were subsequently fried in a 1:1 mixture of vegetableoil and margarine at 160° C. for 5 minutes followed by baking in an ovenat about 220° C. for about 15 minutes when the core temperature hadreached 92° C.

The resulting two batches of fish cake balls were analyzed by methodsknown per se for their contents of carbohydrate, protein and fat. Thetotal content of energy in the fish cake balls and the relativecontributions hereto of the above contents of carbohydrate, protein andfat were calculated based on these data. The results are shown below:

                  TABLE 7                                                         ______________________________________                                        Compositions of fish cake ball batches (w/w %) and their                      energy content                                                                          Test batch  Reference batch                                                        % of total        % of total                                             %    energy     %      energy                                       ______________________________________                                        Carbohydrates                                                                             9.5    26.7       6.2  9.7                                        Protein     14.9   44.2       15.1 24.9                                       Fat         4.6    29.1       18.6 65.5                                       Total energy, kJ                                                                          611           1105                                                per 100 g                                                                     ______________________________________                                    

The total energy content in the low calorie fish cake balls was reducedby about 45% relative to the lard-containing reference batch.

The sensory quality of the low calorie fish cake balls was assessed by aconsumer panel as described in the above Examples. The results of thesesensory assessments are summarized in Table 8 below:

                  TABLE 8                                                         ______________________________________                                        Sensory characteristics of low calorie fish cake balls containing             19.5% by weight of peeled, cooked potatoes as compared to the                 characteristics of conventionally prepared fish cake balls                    containing 18.6% by weight of fat                                                        N   Mean score SEM    Significance                                 ______________________________________                                        Taste        42    4.14       1.74 ns                                         Texture      42    4.33       1.51 ns                                         Appearance   42    4.55       1.33 *                                          General impression                                                                         42    4.64       1.48 **                                         ______________________________________                                         N: Number of subjects in panel                                                SEM: Standard error of mean                                                   ns: Not statistically different                                               p < 0.05                                                                      p < 0.01                                                                      p < 0.001                                                                

For all the sensory characteristics the test panel found the low caloriefish cake balls to be slightly better than the reference batch of balls.For appearance and general impression the differences in flavour of thetest product were statistically significant.

EXAMPLE 7

Emulsion stability of low calorie sausages comprising differentproportions of cooked potatoes

Four test batches of low calorie sausages comprising varying proportions(w/w %) of cooked, peeled potatoes, i.e. 40%, 30%, 20% and 10%,respectively were prepared essentially as described in Example 1. At thesame time 4 corresponding reference batches of sausages were prepared,wherein the cooked potatoes were replaced by exactly the sameproportions of pork abdominal fat trimmings. All test batches as well asall reference batches comprised as a further ingredient lean pork in theform of shank meat from which substantially all visible fat had beenremoved. The proportion hereof was increased proportionately withdecreasing proportions of either cooked potatoes (test batches) or fattrimmings (reference batches). Below are shown ingredient formulationsfor the test batch comprising 40% by weight of cooked potatoes and forthe corresponding reference batch comprising 40% by weight of fattrimmings:

    ______________________________________                                                   Test batch  Reference batch                                        ______________________________________                                        Pork shank meat                                                                            5.458   kg (27.3%)                                                                              5.342 kg (26.7%)                               Cooked, peeled                                                                             8.000   kg (40.0%)                                                                              --                                             potatoes                                                                      Pork fat trimmings                                                                         --                8.000 kg (40.0%)                               Ice water    5.382   kg (26.9%)                                                                              5.832 kg (26.9%)                               Dried skimmed milk                                                                         0.672   kg (3.4%) 0.672 kg (3.4%)                                Curing salt  0.200   kg (1.0%) 0.200 kg (1.0%)                                Common salt  0.150   kg (0.8%) 0.240 kg (1.2%)                                Phosphate    0.094   kg (0.5%) 0.094 kg (0.5%)                                White pepper 0.026   kg (0.1%) 0.040 kg (0.2%)                                Mace         0.006   kg (0.03%)                                                                              0.010 kg (0.05%)                               Ginger       0.006   kg (0.03%)                                                                              0.010 kg (0.05%)                               Coriander seed                                                                             0.006   kg (0.03%)                                                                              0.010 kg (0.05%)                               ______________________________________                                    

The amounts of curing salt were equal in the two batches, whereas theamounts of common salt and of the spice ingredients were reduced in thebatch of low calorie sausages relative to the corresponding conventionalreference batch. In the above formulation for the test batch the omittedweight of the above ingredients having been reduced was replaced by acorresponding additional weight of shank meat (0.580 kg). In theremaining formulations of this Example all ingredients apart from theshank meat, the cooked potatoes and the fat trimmings were as shown inthe above formulations.

All batches were prepared in substantially the same manner: As aninitial step the shank meat and the cooked, peeled potatoes werepreground through a plate having 5 mm openings. Half of the meat wastransferred to a high-speed grinder together with the phosphate and halfof the salt. The grinder was then operated at 2800 rpm for 60 secondsduring which half of the ice water was added. The grinder was stoppedand subsequently operated at 1400 rpm for 30 seconds during which driedskimmed milk powder and the remaining ice water were added and thegrinder operated for a further 30 seconds at 2800 rpm and stopped. Theremaining half of the meat and of the salt were added followed byoperating the grinder for 30 seconds at 2800 rpm.

After stopping of the grinder the ground cooked potatoes (test batches)or the pork fat trimmings (reference batches) were added to the mixturetogether with the spicing ingredients and the grinder operated for 60seconds at 2800 rpm to obtain the final sausage mixtures. When added themeat, cooked potatoes and the fat trimmings had a temperature of about5° C., and the temperature of the final sausage mixtures had atemperature of 12°-14° C.

The sausage mixtures were transferred to a sausage filler and stuffedinto 22 mm collagen casings. The thus obtained stuffed sausages weresubsequently subjected to a smoking and cooking treatment including thefollowing steps:

    ______________________________________                                        Maturation   15 minutes/50° C./75% RH                                  Drying       15 minutes/60° C./65% RH                                  Smoking      25 minutes/75° C./65% RH                                  Cooking      20 minutes/85° C. (water bath)                            Cooling      20 minutes/ 8° C. (water sprinkling)                      ______________________________________                                    

Finally, the sausages were dried and cooled further in a cold room andvacuum-packaged in plast foil.

The described test batches and reference batches were tested for theiremulsion stability according to two different procedures which aregenerally used in the art:

(1) Determination of weight loss during cooking

The sausages were weighed immediately prior to cooking (initial weight).Cooking was done in a conventional household manner by frying on asaucepan using a moderate amount of melted and heated margarine. Whenthe sausages were cooked their weight was determined again (cookedweight). The reduction in weight (initial weight-cooked weight) wascalculated as percentage relative to the initial weight.

The results are shown in Table 9 below.

(2) Determination of release of meat jelly and far during autoclaving

Before stuffing the freshly prepared sausage mixture into casings anamount hereof was filled into cans holding 450 g and subsequentlyautoclaved essentially as described in Example 4. The amounts of meatjelly and fat which had collected at the top were measured as describedin Example 3. The results expressed as percentages of the initial weightof the sausage mixtures are summarized in table 9 below:

                  TABLE 9                                                         ______________________________________                                        Indications of emulsion stability as determined by cooking                    weight loss and release of meat jelly and fat during autoclaving              Proportion of                                                                 cooked potatoes/         Release  Release                                     fat trimmings                                                                              Cooking weight                                                                            of fat,  of meat                                     (w/w %)      loss, w/w % w/w %    jelly, w/w %                                ______________________________________                                        40, test batch                                                                             6.5         0.0      4.5                                         40, reference batch                                                                        6.1         9.8      21.1                                        30, test batch                                                                             6.3         0.0      5.6                                         30, reference batch                                                                        5.9         0.0      5.1                                         20, test batch                                                                             7.0         0.0      4.3                                         20, reference batch                                                                        6.2         0.0      4.5                                         10, test batch                                                                             5.1         0.0      5.7                                         10, reference batch                                                                        ND          0.0      5.7                                         ______________________________________                                    

It appears from these results that the stability of the sausage mixtureemulsion in the reference batch comprising 40% by weight of fattrimmings was significantly impaired relative to the corresponding lowcalorie test batch and relative to all other batches tested. Atproportions of 30% by weight or less of cooked potatoes and fattrimmings, respectively the emulsion stability appears to be essentiallythe same for test batches and reference batches at the same proportionlevel of cooked potatoes/fat trimmings and also at different levelshereof.

EXAMPLE 8

The effect of the proportions of salt, phosphate, skimmed milk powderand wheat flour on the emulsion stability of low calorie sausagemixtures

Three different test batches of low calorie sausages comprising varyingproportions of the water binding ingredients salt, phosphate, skimmedmilk powder and wheat flour and varying proportions of spices andflavouring ingredients were prepared substantially according to theprocedure described in Example 7. Concomitantly, three reference sausagebatches were prepared which had the same ingredient formulations as thetest batches with the exception that peeled cooked potatoes werereplaced proportionately by pork fat trimmings and the amounts of spicesand flavouring ingredients were about 3 times higher.

The three test batches had the following ingredient formulations:

    ______________________________________                                                    w/w % of ingredient in:                                                       Batch 1  Batch 2  Batch 3                                         ______________________________________                                        Lean pork shank meat                                                                        29.8       29.9     29.9                                        Ice water     30.0       30.0     30.0                                        Cooked peeled potatoes                                                                      30.0       35.0     39.0                                        Pork fat trimmings                                                                          0.0        0.0      0.0                                         Curing salt   2.0        1.0      1.0                                         Phosphate     0.5        0.25     0.0                                         Dried skimmed milk                                                                          4.0        2.0      0.0                                         Wheat flour   3.5        1.75     0.0                                         Spices/flavorings*.sup.)                                                                    0.2        0.1      0.05                                        ______________________________________                                         *.sup.) White pepper, mace, ginger, coriander seed                       

The corresponding reference batches had the following ingredientformulations:

    ______________________________________                                                    w/w % of ingredient in:                                                       Batch 1  Batch 2  Batch 3                                         ______________________________________                                        Lean pork shank meat                                                                        29.3       29.6     29.8                                        Ice water     30.0       30.0     30.0                                        Cooked peeled potatoes                                                                      0.0        0.0      0.0                                         Pork fat trimmings                                                                          30.0       35.0     39.0                                        Curing salt   2.0        1.0      1.0                                         Phosphate     0.5        0.25     0.0                                         Dried skimmed milk                                                                          4.0        2.0      0.0                                         Wheat flour   3.5        1.75     0.0                                         Spices/flavorings*.sup.)                                                                    0.7        0.35     0.02                                        ______________________________________                                         *.sup.) White pepper, mace, ginger, coriander seed                       

The above test batches and reference batches were tested for theiremulsion stability according to the procedure for the determination ofrelease of meat jelly and fat as described in Example 7. The results ofthese measurements are summarized below:

                  TABLE 10                                                        ______________________________________                                        Indications of emulsion stability as determined by release of                 meat jelly and fat during autoclaving                                                      Release    Release of                                                                              Total                                       Tested batch of fat,    meat jelly,                                                                             release,                                    of sausages  ww %       w/w %     w/w %                                       ______________________________________                                        Test batch 1 0.0        0.4       0.4                                         Reference batch 1                                                                          0.0        1.4       1.4                                         Test batch 2 0.0        9.1       9.1                                         Reference batch 2                                                                          1.7        12.8      14.5                                        Test batch 3 0.0        29.5      29.5                                        Reference batch 3                                                                          8.7        32.2      40.9                                        ______________________________________                                    

It appears that a decrease of the amounts of water binding ingredientsin test batches as well as in reference batches resulted in a decreasingemulsion stability of the sausage mixtures. However, the decrease ofemulsion stability was constantly higher in the reference batches whencompared to the stability of the corresponding test batches. It cantherefore be concluded that the replacement of fat in low caloriesausages by an equal amount of peeled, cooked potatoes improves thestability of the emulsion even when water binding ingredients which aretraditionally used in the art are omitted. These results clearlyindicate that the vegetable fat replacement ingredient had a significantwater binding capacity.

EXAMPLE 9

Preparation of low calorie sausages comprising different vegetable fatreplacement ingredients and their emulsion stability characteristics

Three batches of low calorie sausages were prepared in which the sameproportion of three different vegetable fat replacement ingredients wereadded. Batch 1 comprised 39.0 w/w % cooked, peeled potatoes; batch 2comprised 39.0 w/w % of potato pulp, i.e. the material left whensubstantially all starch has been washed out with water and theremaining material has been drained; batch 3 comprised 39.0 w/w % of anaqueous suspension comprising 2.6% by weight of potato fibers, 18.2% byweight of commercially available potato starch and 79.2% by weight oftap water. The general ingredient formulation (w/w %) was as shownbelow:

    ______________________________________                                        Lean pork shank meat   30.0                                                   Icewater               30.0                                                   Vegetable fat replacement ingredient                                                                 39.0                                                   Curing salt            1.0                                                    Spices/flavourings*.sup.)                                                                            0.05                                                   ______________________________________                                         *.sup.) White pepper, mace, ginger, coriander seed                       

The batches were prepared essentially as described in Example 8.

All three batches of sausage mixtures were tested for their emulsionstability characteristics by determining the release of meat jelly andfat after autoclaving as described hereinbefore. The results of thesetest are summarized in Table 11 below:

                  TABLE 11                                                        ______________________________________                                        Indications of emulsion stability of low calorie sausage mixtures             with different potato-derived fat replacement ingredients as                  determined by release of meat jelly and fat during autoclaving                              Release   Release of                                                                              Total                                       Tested batch  of fat,   meat jelly,                                                                             release,                                    of sausages   ww %      w/w %     w/w %                                       ______________________________________                                        Test batch 1  0.0       32.1      32.1                                        comprising cooked                                                             peeled potatoes                                                               Test batch 2  0.0       20.6      20.6                                        comprising potato                                                             pulp                                                                          Test batch 3  0.0       25.3      25.3                                        comprising potato                                                             fiber/potato starch                                                           ______________________________________                                    

The above results illustrate that potato pulp and aqueous suspensions ofpotato fiber and potato starch are suitable fat replacement ingredientsin low calorie meat products, both ingredients essentially being on apar with cooked peeled potatoes as regards the emulsion stabilitycharacteristics.

EXAMPLE 10

Preparation of low calorie saveloy with boiled potatoes

The ingredient formulation was as follows:

    ______________________________________                                        Lean pork without visible fat                                                                      16.000 kg                                                                              (40.0%)                                         Peeled boiled potatoes                                                                             9.600 kg (24.0%)                                         Ice water            10.400 kg                                                                              (26.0%)                                         Curing salt          0.400 kg (1.0%)                                          Common salt          0.320 kg (0.8%)                                          Carrageenan          0.360 kg (0.9%)                                          Colouring agent      0.080 kg (0.2%)                                          Phosphate            0.252 kg (0.6%)                                          Potato starch        1.200 kg (3.0%)                                          Soy protein          1.200 kg (3.0%)                                          Sodium ascorbate     0.020 kg (0.1%)                                          Spices               0.168 kg (0.4%)                                          ______________________________________                                    

The lean meat and the boiled potatoes pre-cooled to about 5° C. werecomminuted by grinding through a plate having 3 mm openings (step a).Half of the comminuted meat and 4 kg of the icewater were transferred toa high-speed mixer having 6 rotating knives, together with the curingsalt, common salt, colouring agent and phosphate and these ingredientswere further comminuted by operating the high-speed mixer during 30turns of the bowel (step b). The mixer was stopped and the soy protein,the potato starch and the remaining ice water was added followed byoperating the mixer during another 30 bowel turns (step c). As the lastmixing step, the pre-comminuted boiled potatoes and the remaining halfof the pre-comminuted lean meat was added to the resulting mixture andthe mixer was operated during 20 bowel turns (step d) to obtain acoherent saveloy mixture which was stuffed in 52 mm casings andsubsequently immersed in water having a temperature of about 80° C. forabout 75 minutes.

As a reference product a batch of saveloy in which 24% of fat was addedinstead of boiled potatoes was prepared essentially according to theprocess described above.

The resulting batches of saveloy were subjected to chemical analyses bymethods known per se and their total energy contents and the relativecontributions thereto of carbohydrates, protein and fat were calculatedon the basis of these analytical data:

                  TABLE 12                                                        ______________________________________                                        Composition of saveloy batches with 24% by weight of boiled                   potatoes (w/w %) and the energy contents thereof.                                        Test batch  Reference batch                                                        % of total        % of total                                             %    energy     %      energy                                      ______________________________________                                        Carbohydrates                                                                              8.0    31.4       3.5  5.9                                       Protein      10.5   43.7       11.0 19.7                                      Fat          2.8    24.9       19.4 74.4                                      Total energy, kJ                                                                           437           1015                                               per 100 g                                                                     ______________________________________                                    

The total energy content of the low calorie saveloy was only about 43%of that of the reference product. In this latter meat product the highfat content contributed with 74.4% of the total energy content, whereasin the test product the fat content only contributed 24.9%.

EXAMPLE 11

Preparation of low calorie saveloy comprising potato fiber and potatosearch as a fag replacement ingredient

In the ingredient formulation of this product the boiled potatoes asincluded in the formulation of example 10 was replaced by 5.77% byweight of a potato starch product containing about 82% starch, 0.8%. byweight of a potato fiber product containing about 75% dietary fiber and17.43% by weight of water. Consequently, this fat replacement ingredientcontained 9.1% by weight of dietary fiber and 70.0% by weight of starchin the dry matter hereof. These proportions were selected on the basisthat they corresponds to the average values found in potatoes.

The process of preparation comprised a step a and a step b as defined inexample 10. In step c of the present process, the soy protein, thepotato starch, the potato starch product and the potato fiber productwere added to the mixture together with 13.372 kg of icewater. Step dand the subsequent stuffing and cooking steps were as defined in example10.

The resulting batch of saveloy was subjected to chemical analyses bymethods known per se and the total energy content and the relativecontributions thereto of carbohydrates, protein and fat were calculatedon the basis of these analytical data. The data were compared with thecorresponding data for the reference product of example 11:

                  TABLE 13                                                        ______________________________________                                        Composition of a saveloy batch with 24% by weight of a fat                    replacement ingredient comprising a proportion of potato                      dietary fiber of 9.1% and a proportion of 70.0% potato starch                 in dry matter and the energy contents thereof.                                           Test batch  Reference batch                                                        % of total        % of total                                             %    energy     %      energy                                      ______________________________________                                        Carbohydrates                                                                              9.6    37.3       3.5  5.9                                       Protein      9.6    39.9       11.0 19.7                                      Fat          2.6    22.9       19.4 74.4                                      Total energy, kJ                                                                           442           1015                                               per 100 g                                                                     ______________________________________                                    

The total energy content of the low calorie saveloy was only about 44%of that of the reference product. In this latter meat product the highfat content contributed with 74.4% of the total energy content, whereasin the test product the fat content only contributed 22.9%.

EXAMPLE 12

Preparation of low calorie saveloy comprising potato fiber and cornstarch as a far replacement ingredient

In the ingredient formulation of this product the boiled potatoes asincluded in the formulation of example 10 was replaced by 5.77% byweight of a corn starch product containing about 82% starch, 0.8% byweight of a potato fiber product containing about 75% dietary fiber and17.43% by weight of water. Consequently, this fat replacement ingredientlike that of example 12 contained 9.1% by weight of dietary fiber and70.0% by weight of starch in the dry matter hereof. The process ofpreparation comprised a step a and a step b as defined in example 10. Instep c of the present process, the soy protein, the potato starch, thecorn starch product and the potato fiber product were added to themixture together with 13.372 kg of icewater. Step d and the subsequentstuffing and cooking steps were as defined in example 10.

The resulting batch of saveloy was subjected to chemical analyses bymethods known per se and the total energy content and the relativecontributions thereto of carbohydrates, protein and fat were calculatedon the basis of these analytical data. The data were compared with thecorresponding data for the reference product of example 10:

                  TABLE 14                                                        ______________________________________                                        Composition of a saveloy batch with 24% by weight of a fat                    replacement ingredient comprising a proportion of potato                      dietary fiber of 9.1% and a proportion of 70.0% corn starch in                dry matter and the energy contents thereof.                                              Test batch  Reference batch                                                        % of total        % of total                                             %    energy     %      energy                                      ______________________________________                                        Carbohydrates                                                                              9.7    37.2       3.5  5.9                                       Protein      9.7    39.4       11.0 19.7                                      Fat          2.7    23.5       19.4 74.4                                      Total energy, kJ                                                                           448           1015                                               per 100 g                                                                     ______________________________________                                    

The total energy content of the low calorie saveloy was only about 44%of that of the reference product. In this latter meat product the highfat content contributed with 74.4% of the total energy content, whereasin the test product the fat content only contributed 23.5%.

EXAMPLE 13

Preparation of low calorie saveloy comprising pea fiber and potatosearch as a fag replacement ingredient

In the ingredient formulation of this product the boiled potatoes asincluded in the formulation of example 10 was replaced by 5.77% byweight of a potato starch product containing about 82% starch, 0.8% byweight of a pea fiber product containing about 75% dietary fiber and17.43% by weight of water. Consequently, this fat replacement ingredientlike that of example 12 contained 9.1% by weight of dietary fiber and70.0% by weight of starch in the dry matter hereof. The process ofpreparation comprised a step a and a step b as defined in example 10. Instep c of the present process, the soy protein, the potato starch, thepotato starch product and the pea fiber product were added to themixture together with 13.372 kg of icewater. Step d and the subsequentstuffing and cooking steps were as defined in example 10.

The resulting batch of saveloy was subjected to chemical analyses bymethods known per se and the total energy content and the relativecontributions thereto of carbohydrates, protein and fat were calculatedon the basis of these analytical data. The data were compared with thecorresponding data for the reference product of example 10:

                  TABLE 15                                                        ______________________________________                                        Composition of a saveloy batch with 24% by weight of a fat                    replacement ingredient comprising a proportion of pea dietary                 fiber of 9.1% and a proportion of 70.0% potato starch in dry                  matter and the energy contents thereof.                                                  Test batch  Reference batch                                                        % of total        % of total                                             %    energy     %      energy                                      ______________________________________                                        Carbohydrates                                                                              9.7    37.5       3.5  5.9                                       Protein      9.7    39.7       11.0 19.7                                      Fat          2.6    22.8       19.4 74.4                                      Total energy, kJ                                                                           444           1015                                               per 100 g                                                                     ______________________________________                                    

The total energy content of the low calorie saveloy was only about 44%of that of the reference product. In this latter meat product the highfat content contributed with 74.4% of the total energy content, whereasin the test product the fat content only contributed 22.8%.

EXAMPLE 14

Preparation of low calorie saveloy comprising pea fiber and corn starchas a far replacement ingredient

In the ingredient formulation of this product the boiled potatoes asincluded in the formulation of example 10 was replaced by 5.77% byweight of a corn starch product containing about 82% starch, 0.8% byweight of a pea fiber product containing about 75% dietary fiber and17.43% by weight of water. Consequently, this fat replacement ingredientlike that of example 11 contained 9.1% by weight of dietary fiber and70.0% by weight of starch in the dry matter hereof. The process ofpreparation comprised a step a and a step b as defined in example 10. Instep c of the present process, the soy protein, the potato starch, thecorn starch product and the pea fiber product were added to the mixturetogether with 13.372 kg of icewater. Step d and the subsequent stuffingand cooking steps were as defined in example 10.

The resulting batch of saveloy was subjected to chemical analyses bymethods known per se and the total energy content and the relativecontributions thereto of carbohydrates, protein and fat were calculatedon the basis of these analytical data. The data were compared with thecorresponding data for the reference product of example 10:

TABLE 16

Composition of a saveloy batch with 24% by weight of a fat replacementingredient comprising a proportion of pea dietary fiber of 9.1% and aproportion of 70.0% corn starch in dry matter and the energy contentsthereof.

                  TABLE 16                                                        ______________________________________                                        Composition of a saveloy batch with 24% by weight of a fat                    replacement ingredient comprising a proportion of pea dietary                 fiber of 9.1% and a proportion of 70.0% corn starch in dry                    matter and the energy contents thereof.                                                  Test batch  Reference batch                                                        % of total        % of total                                             %    energy     %      energy                                      ______________________________________                                        Carbohydrates                                                                              9.7    37.4       3.5  5.9                                       Protein      9.8    40.0       11.0 19.7                                      Fat          2.6    22.7       19.4 74.4                                      Total energy, kJ                                                                           446           1015                                               per 100 g                                                                     ______________________________________                                    

The total energy content of the low calorie saveloy was only about 44%of that of the reference product. In this latter meat product the highfat content contributed with 74.4% of the total energy content, whereasin the test product the fat content only contributed 22.7%.

EXAMPLE 15

Preparation of low calorie saveloy comprising beer fiber and tapiocasearch as a fat replacement ingredient

In the ingredient formulation of this product the boiled potatoes asincluded in the formulation of example 10 was replaced by 5.77% byweight of a tapioca starch product containing about 82% starch, 0.8% byweight of a beet fiber product containing about 75% dietary fiber and17.43% by weight of water. Consequently, this fat replacement ingredientlike that of example 10 contained 9.1% by weight of dietary fiber and70.0% by weight of starch in the dry matter hereof. The process ofpreparation comprised a step a and a step b as defined in example 11. Instep c of the present process, the soy protein, the potato starch, thetapioca starch product and the beet fiber product were added to themixture together with 13.372 kg of icewater. Step d and the subsequentstuffing and cooking steps were as defined in example 10.

The resulting batch of saveloy was subjected to chemical analyses bymethods known per se and the total energy content and the relativecontributions thereto of carbohydrates, protein and fat were calculatedon the basis of these analytical data. The data were compared with thecorresponding data for the reference product of example 10:

                  TABLE 17                                                        ______________________________________                                        Composition of a saveloy batch with 24% by weight of a fat                    replacement ingredient comprising a proportion of beet dietary                fiber of 9.1% and a proportion of 70.0% tapioca starch in dry                 matter and the energy contents thereof.                                                  Test batch  Reference batch                                                        % of total        % of total                                             %    energy     %      energy                                      ______________________________________                                        Carbohydrates                                                                              9.3    35.6       3.5  5.9                                       Protein      9.9    40.1       11.0 19.7                                      Fat          2.8    24.3       19.4 74.4                                      Total energy, kJ                                                                           448           1015                                               per 100 g                                                                     ______________________________________                                    

The total energy content of the low calorie saveloy was only about 44%of that of the reference product. In this latter meat product the highfat content contributed with 74.4% of the total energy content, whereasin the test product the fat content only contributed 24.3%.

EXAMPLE 16

Preparation of a low calorie liver paste comprising boiled potatoes asthe vegetable fat replacement ingredient

The liver paste ingredient formulation was as follows:

    ______________________________________                                        Pork liver         27.75%                                                     Boiled peeled potatoes                                                                           27.75%                                                     Potato pot liquor  32.65%                                                     Common salt        0.80%                                                      Lactose            0.78%                                                      Sorbic acid        0.08%                                                      Wheat starch       3.59%                                                      Potato starch      0.98%                                                      Skim milk powder   3.27%                                                      Caseinate (98.2% protein)                                                                        0.48%                                                      Sunflower oil      1.21%                                                      Spices             0.66%                                                      ______________________________________                                    

The potatoes were provided in the form of pre-boiled whole peeledpotatoes packaged in plastic bags with the water which they had beenboiled by immersing the bags into boiling water for 20 minutes. Prior touse the bags were opened and the potatoes transferred to a vesselcontaining boiling water and kept here for about 5 minutes to obtain atemperature of about 90° C.

1.6% of the boiling potato pot liquor, calculated on the final productand the caseinate was transferred to a KS (Karl Schnell) millingequipment comprising a cylindrical vessel having a conically shapedbottom part provided with a rotating two-bladed propeller having bluntedges. After milling for 20 seconds the sunflower oil was added and themilling continued for another 40 seconds to obtain a stable smoothemulsion (step i). The whole liver, the hot whole potatoes and theremaining ingredients including the rest of the boiling potato potliquor was added (step ii) followed by mixing for 2 minutes during whichmixture the liver and the potatoes were disintregated by the rotatingpropeller into coarse particles having an average largest diameter of atleast 5 mm which due to the rotation of the propeller were distributedevenly in the emulsion. Finally, this second mixture was passed from themixing vessel through a high speed grinder having a plate with 3 mmopenings which plate was attached to the conical bottom part of themixing vessel which passage resulted in the formation if a coherentmixture as defined hereinbefore containing additional ingredients (stepiv). The passage of the above mixture through the grinder was effectedby applying vacuum to the vessel. After passage through the high-speedgrinder the coherent mixture containing additional ingredients wastransferred to a filling machine and distributed into 500 ml aluminiumfoil containers and subsequently baked in a pre-warmed oven at 190° C.for about 1 hour.

EXAMPLE 17

Influence on meat product consistency of the amount of vegetable farreplacement ingredient and of the dietary fiber/starch weight ratio

Five series each consisting of six low calorie sliceable sausageproducts were prepared essentially as defined in Example 10. The seriescomprised products which contained the following proportions of avegetable fat replacement ingredient comprising the total amount ofcarrageenan and potato starch as dry powder: 2.5, 5.0, 7.5, 10.0 and12.5 weight percent, calculated on the products. In each of theseseries, the dietary fiber/starch weight ratio were varied to obtain thefollowing ratios: 1:1, 1:2, 1:4, 1:8, 1:16 and 1:32. A reference producthaving the following composition was also prepared:

    ______________________________________                                        lean pork (8% fat)      50%                                                   lard                    25%                                                   water                   21.7%                                                 salt                     1%                                                   curing salt              1%                                                   seasoning ingredients    0.6%                                                 ______________________________________                                    

In the test product, lard was replaced by the above amounts of dry fatreplacement ingredients and additional water up to 25%.

The consistency of the low calorie products was assessed by a test panelof 7 persons having extensive experience in rating the sensory qualityof meat products. The consistency of the products was rated according toa hedonic rating scale. Each category has an assigned numerical valueranging from -5 to +5 where i.a. 0 indicates good quality, -1insignificant defects and -2 slight defects.

The results are summarized in Table 18 below:

                  TABLE 18                                                        ______________________________________                                        Mean Ratings for Consistency of Test Products                                 Dietary                                                                       fiber/   Amount of dietary fiber/starch, % weight                             starch ratio                                                                           2.5     5.0     7.5   10.0  12.5  - x                                ______________________________________                                        1:1      -0.1    -0.7    -1.1  -1.1  -1.9  -0.98                              1:2      -0.6    -0.3    -0.3  -1.3.sup.d)                                                                         -2.3.sup.d)                                                                         -0.96                              1:4      -1.4.sup.s)                                                                           -0.1    -0.9  -0.4  -2.6  -1.08                              1:8      -1.6.sup.s)                                                                           -1.4.sup.s)                                                                           -1.1  -1.9  -2.6.sup.d)                                                                         -1.72                               1:16    -2.0.sup.s)                                                                           -1.9.sup.s)                                                                           -1.6.sup.d)                                                                         -2.4.sup.d)                                                                         -3.4.sup.d)                                                                         -2.26                               1:32    -1.6.sup.s)                                                                           -1.4.sup.s)                                                                           -0.9  -1.0  -3.1.sup.d)                                                                         -1.60                              - x      -1.22   -0.97   -0.98 -1.35 -2.65 -1.43                              ______________________________________                                         .sup.s) spongy consistency                                                    .sup.d) dry consistency                                                  

It appears that with a dry fat replacement ingredient comprising acombination of carrageenan and potato starch, the best results wereobtained when the ingredient was added in amounts ranging from 2.5 to7.5% and when the dietary fiber/starch ratio was within the range of 1:1to 1:4.

However, acceptable products were also obtained in some instancesoutside these ranges. It was clearly demonstrated that a certainproportion of dietary fiber relative to the starch component is requiredto avoid the occurrence of a spongy consistency of the low calorie meatproducts and furthermore that a dry consistency occurs at the higheramounts of dry fat replacement ingredient.

In this experiment, the consistency quality of the test products wasrated slightly lower than that of the reference product, the mean ratingof which was 0.4±1.1 (s.d.).

EXAMPLE 18

Preparation of low calorie saveloy produces comprising various vegetablefar replacement ingredients and sensory resting of the products

A series comprising five low calorie test products and a referenceproduct containing 25% fat were prepared essentially according to themethod defined in Example 10. All products comprised a total of 6.1% byweight of the following dry ingredients: curing salt, common salt,phosphates, colour, soy protein, sodium ascorbate and spices. Theproducts comprised the following major ingredients:

    ______________________________________                                                  % Test product No.                                                  Ingredient  Ref.   1       2    3     4    5                                  ______________________________________                                        Pork, 7-9% fat                                                                            40.1   40.1    40.1 40.1  40.1 40.1                               Water       24.9   32.4    31.9 26.7  21.8 43.5                               Lard        24.9   --      --   --    --   --                                 Boiled white rice                                                                         --     17.5    17.5 --    --   --                                 Potato fiber                                                                              --     --      0.55 0.13  --   0.26                               Boiled brown rice                                                                         --     --      --   21.1  --   --                                 Carrots, boiled                                                                           --     --      --   --    23.3 --                                 Corn starch --     --      --   --    4.7  --                                 Dried potato flakes                                                                       --     --      --   --    --   6.1                                Potato starch                                                                             3.0    3.0     3.0  3.0   3.0  3.0                                Carrageenan 0.9    0.9     0.9  0.9   0.9  0.9                                Calculated starch                                                                         2.40   6.54    6.54 6.54  6.16 6.24                               Calculated dietary                                                                        0.90   0.94    1.31 1.04  1.60 1.52                               fiber                                                                         Dietary fiber/starch                                                                      1:2.7  1:7.0   1:5.0                                                                              1:6.3 1:3.9                                                                              1:4.1                              ______________________________________                                    

The test products and the reference product were subjected to a sensorytesting using a panel of 26 consumers. In each separate testing, half ofthe panelists rated 2 identical test product samples and 1 referenceproduct sample, and the other half rated 2 identical reference samplesand 1 test product sample. The samples were rated for (1) overallimpression, (2) consistency, (3) taste, and (4) appearance, according toa hedonic scale indicating whether the products were: very poor (1),poor (2), neither poor nor good (3), good (4) and very good (5). Thebracketed figures indicate numerical transformation values which wereused for calculations of mean ratings and differences of mean ratings.

The results of the sensory testing are shown below as differencesbetween mean ratings of each test product and the reference product.

                  TABLE 19                                                        ______________________________________                                        Sensory Ratings of Low Calorie Saveloy Products                               and a Reference Product containing 25% fat                                            Test Sample No.                                                       Parameter 1        2       3      4     5                                     ______________________________________                                        Overall   -0.42    -0.09   -0.14  -0.39 0.09                                  Appearance                                                                              0.07     -0.06   0.21   -0.94 0.14                                  Consistency                                                                             -0.06    -0.03   -0.51  -0.09 -0.07                                 Taste     -0.46    0.03    -0.02  -0.15 -0.27                                 - x       -0.22    -0.04   -0.12  -0.40 -0.03                                 ______________________________________                                    

In conclusion, the test product were rated slightly lower than thereference product. However, the differences were not statisticallysignificant except for sample No. 4. This product comprising cookedcarrots was clearly rated as being less acceptable due to a poorerappearance. This was most likely due to the strong colour deriving fromthe carrots. This problem may be solved by adjusting the amount and typeof food grade colouring agents. It was interestingly found that theratings of sample No. 4 concerning taste and consistency werepractically at the same level as the reference product. Furthermore, itwas surprisingly found that the incorporation of additional dietaryfiber in sample No. 2 relative to sample 1 improved the taste and theoverall ratings significantly.

EXAMPLE 19

Preparation of low calorie hamburgers and measurements of cookingprocess weight losses

Two series (A and B) of hamburgers were prepared according to recipes asdefined below. Series A comprised a reference product and four testproducts. Series B comprised a reference product and three testproducts.

    ______________________________________                                                 Series A                                                                      Weight % of ingredient in sample                                              Ref.    A1     A2       A3   A4                                      ______________________________________                                        Beef, 23% fat                                                                            100.0     --     --     --   --                                    Beef, 11% fat                                                                            --        87.0   --     --   --                                    Beef, 4% fat                                                                             --        --     80.0   80.0 80.0                                  Beef, 30% fat                                                                            --        --     --     --   --                                    Beef, 10% fat                                                                            --        --     --     --   --                                    Boiled potatoes                                                                          0.0       13.0   20.0   --   --                                    Ice        --        --     --     15.59                                                                              15.62                                 Corn starch                                                                              --        --     --     3.75 --                                    Potato fiber                                                                             --        --     --     0.66 --                                    Pea starch --        --     --     --   2.95                                  Pea fiber  --        --     --     --   1.45                                  Calculated fat %                                                                         23.0      9.6    3.2    3.2  3.2                                   ______________________________________                                                    Series B                                                                      Weight % of ingredient in sample                                               Ref.   B1         B2   B3                                        ______________________________________                                        Beef, 30% fat                                                                              64.0   --         --   --                                        Beef, 17% fat                                                                              --     54.0       --   --                                        Beef, 10% fat                                                                              4.0    4.0        4.0  4.0                                       Beef, 5.5% fat                                                                             --     --         47.4 47.4                                      Ice          8.6    8.6        8.6  21.54                                     Soy protein (58%)                                                                          4.5    4.5        4.5  4.5                                       Water        15.0   15.0       15.0 15.0                                      Soy protein (80%)                                                                          3.1    3.1        3.1  3.1                                       Common salt  0.45   0.45       0.45 0.45                                      Seasoning    0.35   0.35       0.35 0.35                                      Boiled potatoes                                                                            --     10.0       16.6 --                                        Corn starch  --     --         --   3.11                                      Potato fiber --     --         --   0.55                                      Calculated fat %                                                                           19.6   9.6        3.0  3.0                                       ______________________________________                                    

Hamburgers in Series A were prepared as follows:

The beef was ground together with ice through a plate having 3 mmopenings and subsequently transferred to a Palmia blender. Dryingredients or boiled potatoes were added, and the ingredients wereblended 2 times for 2.5 minutes and at about 0° C. to obtain a coherenthamburger mixture which was transformed to a Formax patty former. Afterforming, the hamburger patties were transported on a conveyer through afreezer and finally packed in cartons for storage at -25° C.

The Series B hamburgers were prepared according to the following method:

The beef was ground together with the ice through a plate having 3 mmopenings and the ground beef transported to a Palmia blender. Soyprotein (80%), common salt and seasoning was added prior to blending for2.5 minutes. Finally, soy protein (58%) presoaked in water was addedfollowed by blending for another 2.5 minutes period to obtain a coherenthamburger mixture. The resultant mixture was formed and packed asdescribed above.

Hamburgers of both series including the high-fat reference products weretested by a sensory panel essentially in the manner defined in Example18. Prior to testing, the hamburger patties were cooked without use ofany fat or oil in a Turbo fryer for 90 seconds. The cooked hamburgerswere served to the panelists as burger meals comprising the cookedhamburger patties, buns, lettuce and a mild salad dressing. Inconnection with the testing, the weight loss of the hamburgers,resulting from the cooking process was recorded.

The sensory testing results are summarized in the below tables showingthe differences between mean ratings of each test product and thereference product.

                  TABLE 20                                                        ______________________________________                                        Sensory Ratings of Low Calorie Hamburger Products                             and a Reference Hamburger containing 23% fat (Series A)                                 Test Sample No.                                                     Parameter   1       2         3    4                                          ______________________________________                                        Overall     0.34    0.55      0.39 -0.20                                      Appearance  -0.28   0.18      0.19 -0.42                                      Consistency 0.36    0.88      0.32 0.06                                       Taste       0.46    0.37      0.27 0.02                                       - x         0.22    0.49      0.29 -0.16                                      ______________________________________                                    

The mean ratings for the four low calorie test hamburger products were:3.06, 3.30, 3.33 and 2.78%, respectively. In this series, 3/4 of the lowcalorie test hamburgers were rated higher than the high-fat referenceproduct. For all test samples, taste and consistency were rated higherthan the reference.

As a results of the cooking process, the reference hamburger showed aweight loss of 28.5%. The corresponding figures for the test samples 1-4were: 13.0, 7.8, 11.2 and 12.3%, respectively. These results clearlyindicated that the cooking losses were significantly reduced inhamburgers in which the predominant part of the fat was replaced by avegetable fat replacement ingredient.

                  TABLE 21                                                        ______________________________________                                        Sensory Ratings of Low Calorie Hamburger Products                             and a Reference Hamburger containing 23% fat (Series B)                                 Test Sample No.                                                     Parameter   1           2       3                                             ______________________________________                                        Overall     -0.10       -0.08   -0.37                                         Appearance  0.46        -0.15   0.12                                          Consistency -0.22       0.01    -0.09                                         Taste       -0.22       -0.38   -0.49                                         - x         -0.03       -0.15   -0.20                                         ______________________________________                                    

Overall, the differences of ratings were insignificant. The mean ratingsfor the three low calorie hamburger products were: 3.00, 2.70 and 3.09%,respectively.

Reference hamburger patties showed a cooking loss of 8.6% by weight,whereas the test samples 1-3 showed losses of 10.8, 4.6 and 5.3%,respectively.

We claim:
 1. A low calorie meat product comprising:(a) a mixturecomprising(1) comminuted lean meat that contains at least 1% fat andthat is substantially free from visible fat, the proportion of which isin the range of 20-95% by weight, calculated on the mixture, (2) avegetable fat replacement ingredient comprising dietary fiber and starchin a weight ratio which is in the range of 1:20 to 1:4, the proportionof the dietary fiber being at least 5% by weight of the fat replacementingredient dry matter when determined as non-starch polysaccharides(NSP), and the proportion of the starch being at least 50% of the fatreplacement ingredient dry matter, which fat replacement ingredient iscapable of having or being brought into a homogeneous consistencyessentially without sensory recognizable particles in the mixture, theproportion of said vegetable fat replacement ingredient being in therange of 5-80% by weight, calculated on the mixture, (b) optionallyadded salt, the proportion of which when added being in the range of0.1-4% by weight, calculated on the mixture, and (c) optionally addedwater, the proportion of which when added is in the range of 5-50% byweight, calculated on the mixture, wherein the product has a fat contentwhich is at the most 15% by weight when the product is a hamburgerproduct and the content of fat being at the most 10% by weight when theproduct is not a hamburger product, with the provisos that (i) when thecomminuted lean meat is fish meat, the fat does not comprise hardenedfat and (ii) the dietary fiber is not konjak mannan, and wherein thecontribution of fat in the low calorie meat product to the total energycontent of the low calorie meat product is less than 50%.
 2. A lowcalorie meat product according to claim 1 comprising at least 60% byweight of the native water content of the ingredients hereof.
 3. A lowcalorie meat product according to claim 1 which is a product selectedfrom the group consisting of a hamburger product, a sausage product, asliceable meat product and a spreadable meat product.
 4. A low caloriemeat product according to claim 3 wherein the hamburger product inaddition to the comminuted meat and the vegetable fat replacementingredient comprises one or more ingredients selected from the groupconsisting of added salt and added water.
 5. A low calorie hamburgerproduct according to claim 4 wherein the total proportion of fat is lessthan 12% by weight.
 6. A low calorie meat product according to claim 5wherein the total proportion of fat is less than 10% by weight.
 7. A lowcalorie meat product according to claim 5 wherein the total proportionof fat is less than 7% by weight.
 8. A low calorie meat productaccording to claim 5 wherein the total proportion of fat is less than 5%by weight.
 9. A low calorie meat product according to claim 5 whereinthe total proportion of fat is less than 3% by weight.
 10. A low caloriemeat product according to claim 1 wherein the mixture is a coherentforcemeat mixture.
 11. A low calorie meat product according to claim 1wherein the total amount of dietary fiber and starch present in thevegetable fat replacement ingredient is at least 5% by weight,calculated on the product.
 12. A low calorie meat product according toclaim 1 wherein the proportion of dietary fiber in the fat replacementingredient is at least 10% by weight.
 13. A low calorie meat productaccording to claim 12 wherein the proportion of dietary fiber in the fatreplacement ingredient is at least 15% by weight.
 14. A low calorie meatproduct according to claim 1 wherein the dietary fiber and the starchare native non-modified dietary fiber and starch.
 15. A low calorie meatproduct according to claim 1 wherein the vegetable fat replacementingredient is a native non-fractionated plant material having a watercontent of at least 70%.
 16. A low calorie meat product according toclaim 15 wherein the proportion of the vegetable fat replacementingredient in the mixture is within the range of 10-70% by weight.
 17. Alow calorie meat product according to claim 15 wherein the vegetable fatreplacement ingredient is selected from plant tuber materials and plantroot materials.
 18. A low calorie meat product according to claim 17wherein the plant tuber material is potatoes.
 19. A low calorie meatproduct according to claim 17 wherein the plant root material isselected from the group consisting of tapioca roots, cassava roots andarrowroots.
 20. A low calorie meat product according to claim 15 whereinthe native plant material is pre-cooked.
 21. A low calorie meat productaccording to claim 15 wherein the proportion of the vegetable fatreplacement ingredient in the mixture is within the range of 15-60% byweight.
 22. A low calorie meat product according to claim 15 wherein theproportion of the vegetable fat replacement ingredient in the mixture iswithin the range of 20-50% by weight.
 23. A low calorie meat productaccording to claim 1 wherein the vegetable fat replacement ingredienthas a water content of at the most 20% by weight.
 24. A low calorie meatproduct according to claim 23 wherein the proportion of the vegetablefat replacement ingredient in the mixture is in the range of 5-15% byweight.
 25. A low calorie meat product according to claim 23 wherein thefat replacement ingredient is a non-fractionated native plant materialselected from cereal grains and dicotyledonous plant seeds.
 26. A lowcalorie meat product according to claim 25 wherein the fat replacementingredient is in the form of particles having a largest diameter of atthe most 2 mm.
 27. A low calorie meat product according to claim 23wherein the fat replacement ingredient is a mixture of separated starchand separated dietary fiber.
 28. A low calorie meat product according toclaim 27 wherein the separated starch is selected from grain flourstarch, potato starch and tapioca starch.
 29. A low calorie meat productaccording to claim 27 wherein the separated dietary fiber is selectedfrom potato dietary fiber, potato pulp, beet fiber, pea fiber, beanfiber and tapioca fiber.
 30. A low calorie meat product according toclaim 23 wherein the proportion of the vegetable fat replacementingredient in the mixture is in the range of 5-10% by weight.
 31. A lowcalorie meat product according to claim 1 wherein the fat replacementingredient is obtained by supplementing a native non-fractionated plantmaterial, of which the dry matter proportion of dietary fiber is lessthan 5% by weight or the dry matter proportion of starch is less than50% by weight, with a sufficient amount of separated starch or separateddietary fiber to result in a vegetable fat replacement ingredient asdefined in claim
 1. 32. A low calorie meat product according to claim 1wherein the proportion of added water in the mixture is within the rangeof 15-40% by weight.
 33. A low calorie meat product according to claim 1wherein the added water is water in which vegetables or meat have beencooked.
 34. A low calorie meat product according to claim 1 wherein theproportion of added salt in the mixture is in the range of 0.5-3% byweight.
 35. A low calorie meat product according to claim 34 wherein theadded salt is selected from the group consisting of a food-gradecomposition essentially comprising sodium chloride, a food-gradecomposition comprising sodium chloride and additional salts, and afood-grade composition comprising one or more alkali metal or alkalineearth metal salts, said food-grade composition comprising other saltsthan sodium chloride having essentially the same salty taste as sodiumchloride.
 36. A low calorie meat product according to claim 1 whereinthe meat is selected from muscular tissue and edible offal includingliver, kidneys, spleens, brains, tongues, or sweetbreads.
 37. A lowcalorie meat product according to claim 36 wherein the meat is a mixtureof meat from two or more animal species.
 38. A low calorie meat productaccording to claim 1 wherein the product comprises one or more furtheringredients selected from the group consisting of cooked or uncookedvegetables having a sensory-recognizable particle size, water bindingagents, structurizing agents, preservatives, flavoring agents, spices,flavor-enhancing agents, sweetening agents, coloring agents, vitamins,smoke, and curing agents.
 39. A low calorie meat product according toclaim 1 wherein the total energy content is less than 700 kJ/100 g. 40.A low calorie meat product according to claim 39 wherein the totalenergy content is less than 600 kJ/100 g.
 41. A low calorie meat productaccording to claim 40 wherein the total energy content is less than 500kJ/100 g.
 42. A low calorie meat product according to claim 39 whereinthe total energy content is less than 400 kJ/100 g.
 43. A low caloriemeat product according to claim 1 which has essentially the same taste,texture, and appearance as a conventionally prepared high-fat meat. 44.A low calorie meat product according to claim 1 wherein the totalproportion of meat jelly and fat released from the product afterautoclaving the product when filled into a can holding 450 g for 70minutes at a pressure of 2.1 bars, is less than 6% by weight relative tothe total amount of product filled into the can.
 45. A low calorie meatproduct according to claim 1 wherein the meat product is packaged.
 46. Alow calorie meat product according to claim 1 which has been subjectedto a preservation and/or cooking treatment.
 47. A low calorie meatproduct according to claim 1 which constitutes a ready-to-cook orready-to-eat consumer meal or forms part thereof.
 48. A low calorie meatproduct according to claim 1 which is a pet animal food.
 49. A lowcalorie meat product according to claim 48 wherein at least part of themeat is edible slaughter offal selected from the group consisting ofblood, intestines, stomachs, genital organs and respiratory organs. 50.A low calorie meat product according to claim 1 wherein the proportionof comminuted lean meat substantially free from visible fat in themixture is within the range of 30-50% by weight.
 51. A low calorie meatproduct according to claim 1 wherein the dietary fiber/starch weightratio in the vegetable fat replacement ingredient is in the range of1:15 to 1:4.
 52. A low calorie meat product according to claim 1 whereinthe dietary fiber/starch weight ratio in the vegetable fat replacementingredient is in the range of 1:10 to 1:4.
 53. A low calorie meatproduct according to claim 1 wherein the proportion of added water inthe mixture is within the range of 20-35% by weight.
 54. A low caloriemeat product according to claim 1 wherein the proportion of added saltin the mixture is in the range of 1-2% by weight.
 55. A low calorie meatproduct according to claim 1 wherein the contribution of the fat contentto the total energy content is less than 40%.
 56. A low calorie meatproduct according to claim 1 wherein the contribution of the fat contentto the total energy content is less than 30%.
 57. A low calorie meatproduct according to claim 1 wherein the contribution of the fat contentto the total energy content is less than 20%.
 58. A low calorie meatproduct according to claim 1 wherein the total proportion of fat is lessthan 8% by weight.
 59. A low calorie meat product according to claim 1wherein the total proportion of fat is less than 3% by weight.
 60. A lowcalorie meat product according to claim 1, wherein the meat is obtainedfrom mammals and birds.
 61. A low calorie meat product according toclaim 1, wherein the meat is selected from the group consisting ofliver, kidney, spleen, brain, tongue, and sweetbreads.
 62. A low caloriemeat product according to claim 1, wherein the meat is selected from thegroup consisting of beef, veal, pork and lamb.
 63. A low calorie meatproduct according to claim 1, wherein the meat is selected from thegroup consisting of beef, pork and chicken.
 64. A low calorie meatproduct according to claim 1, wherein the comminuted lean meat containsbetween 1 and 10% fat.
 65. A low calorie meat product comprising:acoherent forcemeat mixture comprising(1) a comminuted lean meatsubstantially free from visible fat, the proportion of which is in therange of 20-90% by weight, calculated on the mixture, (2) a vegetablefat replacement ingredient comprising dietary fiber and starch in aweight ratio which is in the range of 1:20 to 1:4, the proportion of thedietary fiber being at least 5% by weight of the fat replacementingredient dry matter when determined as non-starch polysaccharides(NSP), and the proportion of the starch being at least 50% of the fatreplacement ingredient dry matter, which fat replacement ingredient iscapable of having or being brought into a homogeneous consistencyessentially without sensory recognizable particles in the coherentmixture, the proportion of said vegetable fat replacement ingredientbeing in the range of 5-80% by weight, calculated on the mixture, (3)optionally added salt, the proportion of which is in the range of 0.1-4%by weight, calculated on the mixture, and (4) optionally added water,the proportion of which is in the range of 10-50% by weight, calculatedon the mixture, the product having a fat content which is at the most10% by weight, andwherein the contribution of fat in the low caloriemeat product to the total energy content of the low calorie meat productis less than 50%.
 66. A low calorie meat product according to claim 65which is a product selected from the group consisting of sausageproducts, sliceable meat products and spreadable meat products.
 67. Alow calorie meat product according to claim 66 which is a spreadablemeat product comprising an edible oil.
 68. A low calorie meat productaccording to claim 65 wherein the total proportion of fat is less than7% by weight.
 69. A low calorie meat product according to claim 68wherein the total proportion of fat is less than 5% by weight.
 70. A lowcalorie meat product according to claim 68 wherein the total proportionof fat is less than 3% by weight.
 71. A low calorie meat productaccording to any of the preceding claims wherein the proportion ofcomminuted lean meat substantially free from visible fat in the mixtureor the coherent forcemeat mixture is within the range of 25-70% byweight.
 72. A low calorie meat product according to claim 65 wherein thetotal proportion of fat is less than 8% by weight.
 73. A low caloriemeat product according to claim 65, additionally comprising added saltand added water.
 74. A low calorie meat product according to claim 65,wherein the contribution of the fat content of the low calorie meatproduct to the total energy content of the low calorie meat product isless than 40%.
 75. A low calorie meat product according to claim 65,wherein the contribution of the fat content of the low calorie meatproduct to the total energy content of the low calorie meat product isless than 30%.
 76. A low calorie meat product according to claim 65,wherein the contribution of the fat content of the low calorie meatproduct to the total energy content of the low calorie meat product isless than 20%.